Harry Potter and the True Way
by CPO Backstreet
Summary: Part 5 of my post-epilogue series. Eleven years on and Nymphadora Potter, daughter of Harry and Hermione Potter, is about to start Hogwarts, while Harry and Hermione are taking on a change of career. It is a time of peace...until a group of dark wizards of unknown origin turn out to have their own ideas about how the wizarding world should be ruled.
1. Chapter 1: Eleven Years Later

**Well, I'm probably going to regret having two stories on the go again but I found myself keen to write this one and incredibly, since it didn't seem like anyone was reading my HP stories, I did get asked for another one. Reading of the first four stories is recommended.**

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CHAPTER ONE: Eleven Years Later

It was a September morning at Kings Cross Station and for most of the patrons there the day was not special at all. But for one brown-haired girl, walking down the walkway between Platforms 9 and 10, it was a day she'd been looking forward to as long as she knew what it was. The girl's name was Nymphadora Potter.

Harry and Hermione, walking a step behind their daughter, exchanged a smile. The look of excitement on her face was one that was very familiar to them, both from their own first time, longer ago than either of them cared to think about, and from those of their other children, now grown up and, in many cases, with children of their own. Nymphadora was the only child of their second marriage to each other, and they had never expected to be making this journey with a child again. But they wouldn't change a thing.

Harry took his daughter's hand. "You ready?" She smiled and nodded. Hermione took her other hand and together they stepped through the barrier onto Platform 9¾.

Nymphadora had only been three years old when her youngest half-siblings, Lily and Hugo, had left Hogwarts, so she had never really seen the platform before. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the huge crowd of people and by the Hogwarts Express. Then she realised just how many people she recognised there. All of her half-siblings were present – James, Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo. James and Rose had their families with them. She also noticed Harry's godson, Teddy Lupin, with his wife Victoire and their daughter Flavia. She was starting at Hogwarts that year as well.

Her ponderings were cut short by Albus, who gave her one of the massive hugs he was famous for. "Just wanted to wish you luck, sis."

"Thanks, Alb,"she answered. She exchanged brief hugs with Tracey and Joshua, James and his wife Emily's two children. Tracey would be starting at Hogwarts in two years and Josh in four. She looked at Lily. "Is Amy here?"

Lily shook her head. "No, we thought she was too young." Lily's daughter had turned five a few months earlier.

Harry and Hermione were inevitably attracting a few looks from the students and their parents, especially the first years. But even more attention was being diverted towards the Minister of Magic. Ron Weasley was standing with Rose and her husband, Scorpius Malfoy. Their daughter Gemini was another of the new first years; her younger brother, Balthasar, would be starting with Tracey. "I wonder if I can make it a rule that you have to be in Gryffindor,"Ron joked to his granddaughter. "Maybe offer the Sorting Hat a ministerial post…"

"Dad,"Rose scolded. "You'll worry her if she doesn't get in now."

"So long as you don't end up in Slytherin."

"I was in Slytherin,"Scorpius reminded him. He nudged Gemini jokingly. "It's better than Hufflepuff."

"I was in Hufflepuff,"Teddy offered.

Ron grinned at his son-in-law. "We can't win, can we?"

"It's what happens when our generation don't all marry people we shared a common room with,"Rose replied stiffly. She looked at Nymphadora. "And you make sure you look after her."

"We might not be in the same house,"Nymphadora suggested. "I could be in Slytherin."

"That's what I said when I was last here,"Albus remarked. "Of course, that was mainly because James was winding me up."

"I've grown since then,"James assured Emily.

"And I'll say to you what I said to him,"Harry remarked. "Nymphadora Ginevra Potter, named after two of the bravest witches I've known…" – he saw James and Teddy briefly go misty-eyed at the reference to their mothers, while Albus gave Lily's hand a squeeze – "…it won't matter to either of us which house you get sorted into."

"No, it won't,"Hermione agreed. She gave her ex-husband a challenging look.

"I'll still be cheering for Gryffindor in the Quidditch Cup,"Ron replied. He patted their granddaughter on the shoulder. "But if you're on the other team, I'll hope you don't lose by much."

"Thanks, Grandad,"Gemini answered, smiling at him fondly.

"You'd better be getting on,"Hugo suggested, gesturing to the near empty platform, with most of the other pupils already onboard the train. Nymphadora grabbed Gemini's hand and they jumped onto the nearest carriage.

James gave Emily a quick kiss. "I'll see you in Hogsmeade later on." He turned to Harry and Hermione. "Come on, I'll show you where the staff carriage is."

* * *

Nymphadora and Gemini made their way through the corridors of the Hogwarts Express. The two girls made quite a contrast, with Nymphadora's subdued brown hairstyle initially drawing less attention that Gemini's flowing blonde locks. But as usual when it was the two of them, Nymphadora, older by three months, was the one that took the lead.

She stopped next to a compartment and saw it only had a solitary occupant, a dark-haired boy who seemed to be another new first year. "There's room in here,"she snapped, grabbing Gemini's hand and dragging her in. She stopped as the boy looked up, suddenly aware she was being a bit presumptuous. "Er, can we sit here?"

"Sure." The boy gestured to the seat opposite him. He had been in the middle of reading a book which Nymphadora saw was a guide to Quidditch. He looked like he wanted to carry on reading it but politeness seemed to stop him.

"You play?"Nymphadora asked, nodding to the book.

The boy nodded. "My grandfather got me and my brothers playing as soon as we were old enough to ride a broom. Shame we won't be able to try out for the house teams until next year."

Nymphadora noted Gemini looking awkward and handed her a few sickles. "Go and see if you can find the sweet trolley."

Gemini smiled. "Sure, Auntie Dora."

Nymphadora rolled her eyes. "I told you not to call me that at school."

"Sorry, Auntie Dora!"Gemini called back down the corridor.

The boy had observed the exchange with slight bemusement. "Are you really her aunt?"

"Her mum's my half-sister so…yeah."

His face seemed to clear as something occurred to him. "You're Nymphadora Potter, aren't you? Daughter of Harry and Hermione Potter?"

Nymphadora sighed. No-one ever managed to use her name without adding that last bit. But this boy at least seemed to say it out of simple curiosity, without the gushing tone of delight that often accompanied it. "That's right."

The boy held out his hand. "Bradley Wood."

She accepted the normal gesture gratefully. "Pleased to meet you, Bradley."

"Pleased to meet you…Dora?"

Nymphadora nodded. "My full name's a bit of a mouthful so, yes. Dora's okay."

"I guess you'll be in Gryffindor?"

"I don't know. My parents were so I suppose there's a chance. What about you?"

"My dad was in Gryffindor, so were his parents, but my mum was in Hufflepuff."

"What about her parents?"

"Didn't go. She's muggleborn. Same as your mum, I guess."

It was at that moment that Gemini appeared, her arms full of sweets. Nymphadora gestured to their new friend. "Gemini Malfoy, meet Bradley Wood."

Bradley offered his hand to Gemini, who shook it. "Are you related to anyone famous?"Gemini asked.

Bradley gave a slight laugh. "Well, my grandad was fairly famous as a Quidditch player." He turned to Nymphadora. "Actually, he was on the team with your dad. Always makes out he discovered him. And my dad was on the team with your brothers. And I think you know my Uncle Martin?"

"James' brother-in-law?"

Bradley nodded. "He married my mum's sister."

"You know who his dad is?"Gemini asked.

"Oh yes. Gonna be strange having him at school."

Nymphadora exchanged a grin with Gemini. "You should worry…"


	2. Chapter 2: Settling In

**Thank you for the favourites, follows and even a review! FF dot net glitches meant they were the only evidence I had that someone was reading this... Hope you continue to enjoy!**

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CHAPTER TWO: Settling In

Harry, Hermione and James had managed to make a quiet exit from the throng of students and take one of the private staff carriages up to Hogwarts. The students would be following on, giving them time to get to the Great Hall ahead of them. Waiting to great them at the gate was the current headmaster of Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom.

Neville had been headmasters for four years, ever since both his predecessor, Professor Slughorn, and the deputy head of the time, Professor Flitwick, had chosen to retire simultaneously. He had been a member of staff for over thirty years, making him one of the longest serving professors at the school. He gave a wide smile as he was the three of them approach. "Professor Potter, Professor Potter and Professor Potter. Suddenly I'm surrounded by Potters."

Harry gave a slight smile. "Hard to believe I was the only one once, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Looked like there weren't going to be any Longbottoms left once." Neville's eyes became misty for a moment. Harry remembered the death of Neville's parents ten years earlier, a decade after his grandmother. In some ways it had been a relief after their decades of living death. Then Neville gave James a mock glare. "And I've got my son-in-law here to thank for taking another one away."

"Hey, I never took Emily anywhere she didn't want to go,"James insisted.

"I can believe that. Well, we'd better get up to the castle."

Hermione glanced sideways at Harry, whose attention had been drawn to the lake. "Can you give us a moment, Neville?"

"Sure. I can trust you not to be late even if I can't trust your husband. Come on, James."

Hermione went to Harry's side. "Nymphadora will be in the boats by now,"he commented. "Remember when we made our first trip?"

"Well, I don't remember what you did so much. We weren't exactly friends then." Harry accepted the truth of her remark; despite their meeting on the Hogwarts Express, it had taken him a while to pay attention to her…not that anyone could ever ignore Hermione for long. "I really wanted to be in Gryffindor then,"she continued. "And I must admit, I was quite glad that you were there too."

Harry nodded. "Shall we see where Nymphadora ends up, Professor Potter?"

Hermione took his hand. "I think that's a good idea, Professor Potter."

* * *

The first years were all sat on a bench in front of the Sorting Hat. Standing next to it was Ernie Macmillan, who had been made deputy head at the same time Neville had been made head. He looked over the list in front of him. "Edward Atkins!"

The Sorting Hat seemed to spend a few moments pondering the rather studious looking boy who stepped forward before announcing "Ravenclaw!"

Harry and Hermione attempted to attract the attention of Nymphadora and Gemini but both seemed to be pretending not to notice them as the list continued.

"Beverley Cardogan!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Gareth Daker!"

"Slytherin!"

"Terry Fowler!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Verity Higgs!"

"Slytherin!"

"Maxwell Jordan!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Flavia Lupin!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"That's a shame,"Harry remarked quietly to Hermione. "I was hoping she and Nymphadora could be in Gryffindor together."

"Nymphadora isn't in yet,"Hermione reminded him. " _She_ could end up in Hufflepuff."

"If she does, Ernie will never let us forget it."

"Gemini Malfoy!"

"Slytherin!"

Hermione sighed. "Ron is not going to be pleased…"

Soon it was Nymphadora's turn. "Gryffindor!"the Hat announced. Harry and Hermione exchanged a smile as Nymphadora went over to the Gryffindor table.

The list continued down to the last two. Amanda Willis was sorted into Gryffindor and Bradley Wood was sorted into Hufflepuff. He gave Nymphadora an apologetic look that did not go unnoticed by Harry. "Oliver will be disappointed,"he whispered to Hermione. "He was hoping for three generations of Woods on the Gryffindor team."

"There's two younger brothers, isn't there?"

"Yeah. Heaven help them if none of them get in."

Neville got to his feet. "So, welcome to all the new student and welcome back to all the old ones. I guess you'd rather get on with the eating than hear me talk but there's a few quick notices first. As you might have noticed, there's been a few changes to the staff. Our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and new Head of Gryffindor, is Professor Harry Potter."

Harry nodded an acknowledgement of the attention he was receiving from the students, many of whom still hadn't overcome the urge to gasp in astonishment.

"And our new Charms teacher, Professor Hermione Potter."

Harry gave a slight smile at the introduction. The Charms post had been available but it was well known that Hermione could have taught pretty much any subject. Well, maybe not Divination…

"For those of you not familiar with the Wizarding Who's Who, they are the father and stepmother of our Muggle Studies teacher, Professor James Potter. If any of you are as confused by this as I am, you have permission, if you need to differentiate between them, to refer to the Defence Against Dark Arts teacher as Professor Potter Senior and the Charms teacher as Madame Professor Potter. And now we eat."

Harry had hoped to have a chance to talk to Ernie, but he was at the other end of the teachers' table, in conversation with the school's Flying instructor, Ernie's wife Angela, formerly Angela Barnes, one of James' classmates. The fact that Ernie had once been her teacher had caused a few raised eyebrows but Harry could tell that the studious Angela was a good match for the occasionally pompous Ernie.

Hermione nudged him. "Have you seen who Head Girl is?"

Harry's eyes fell on the dark-haired girl sat at the Ravenclaw table. "Is that Davina?"

"We only saw her nine months ago, she hasn't changed that much."

"George didn't say anything."

"Well, he never was the most attentive stepfather…"

* * *

The feast had passed in a bit of a blur for Nymphadora. She had spoken to a few of the people on her table but regretted being separated from Gemini and Flavia…and even Bradley, despite only meeting him a few hours earlier. She'd heard seating arrangements were a bit less rigid for most of the year so made plans to sit with them the next day. But before she had a chance to speak to any of them, the Gryffindor Prefects, including the Head Boy, were ushering them up to the common room.

A trip through the portrait hole later and she was shown into the first year girls' dorm with three other girls. Nymphadora looked them over and her gaze eventually settled on a red-haired girl who looked slightly out of sorts. She took the bed next to her and offered her her hand. "Nymphadora Potter."

The girl accepted the hand gratefully. "Beverley Cardogan. Sorry, I'm new to all this. Muggleborn."

"You're probably the only one here that doesn't know you're talking to a member of possibly the most famous wizarding family around,"a confident-looking dark-haired girl remarked. "I'm Amanda Willis." She looked at Nymphadora. "My dad was here at the same time as your brothers and sisters. He was quidditch captain for three years."

"Damon Willis,"Nymphadora realised. She'd often noticed the name on lists of Gryffindor captains, mainly because it was right above Albus Potter and Lily Potter, which her two siblings had kept pointing out to her.

"I'm Susan Green,"the blonde girl kneeling on the other bed concluded. "I'm not anyone famous."

"Those teachers with the same surname as you?"Beverley prompted Nymphadora.

"My parents and my oldest brother,"Nymphadora confirmed.

"Must be awkward."

"Yeah. But the blonde girl sitting next to me, the one that ended up in Slytherin? She's my mum's granddaughter. So at least I'm sharing it with her."

"Lights out!"came a shout from the corridor outside.

Nymphadora settled down into bed and gave Beverley a look. "We'll talk later."

* * *

Harry stared out the bedroom window, hearing the sound of chattering on the lower levels gradually subsiding. "Back in Gryffindor Tower after all these years."

"Certainly feels like full circle,"Hermione agreed from close behind him.

Harry turned round and put his arms round her waist; she responded by putting her arms round his neck. She had changed into a night gown. Her hair, which she had tended to pin up during her time with the Ministry of Law Enforcement, was now hanging loose, as it had done in the Great Hall. "Do you regret leaving the Ministry?"

"No. We both agreed we needed a change of pace. It made sense with Nymphadora coming here and… well, I guess this place will always be special to us. It's where we became friends." She gave a slight smile. "I seem to remember we even had our first kiss here."

Harry recalled the incident, back when James, Albus and Rose had gone missing during the trouble with Rodolphus Lestrange's Death Eaters. "So we did." He kissed her, softly but intensely, and suddenly found himself very aware that there was a bed close at hand. "We've never actually…'done it' at Hogwarts though. Not with each other."

"I've never done it with anyone here,"Hermione retorted sternly. "But I know full well what you and Ginny got up to the night after Voldemort was defeated."

"You should do, you were the one making sure we weren't disturbed."

Her face relaxed into a smile. "True."

Harry kissed her again. "I love you, you know."

"Yes, Professor Potter, after thirteen years together I had realised that."

Harry deepened the kiss, then lifted her up and carried her to the bed.

* * *

James had chosen to walk to Hogsmeade, hoping that the cool air would refresh him. There were a few people around in the streets who nodded greetings to him. He nodded back but his attention was focused on the building that was his home during term time.

When he had taken a job at Hogwarts, Emily had looked for something that would keep them together and give her a living of her own. That was when she'd hit upon the idea of a courier service. For some time, students at Hogwarts had been complaining about the length of time it took for messages and parcels to travel via owl. Emily employed a team of wizards who could apparate straight to the recipient and often bring a reply back, as well as making deliveries for students. Even some of the village residents had started using her services.

James pushed the door open and went inside. Emily was in the process of clearing up. James put his arms round her and gave her a quick kiss. "Where are Tracey and Joshua?"

"Gone to bed,"Emily replied with a slightly reproachful tone. "If you wanted to see them…"

"…I should have got home earlier, I know. But it was the welcome feast, I had to be there. I could always arrange for you to stay at the castle…"

"…and I've told you before, I like my own space."

"I know. I just like spending time with you." He took her hand. "Come on, we can sort everything else out in the morning."


	3. Chapter 3: First Blood

**Well, I've received a number of favourites and follows for this story and, um, the first one so thank you for those!**

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CHAPTER THREE: First Blood

The next morning, Bradley and Gemini had found themselves at a table together for breakfast. They had made a few passing acquaintances among their new dorm mates but the hours they'd spent on the train journey had seen the beginning of a friendship form between them. "How many are there in your dorm?" Gemini asked.

"Six of us,"Bradley answered. "Guess there's a lot of leftovers."

"Hufflepuff isn't so bad,"Gemini replied. "Auntie Dora's named after someone who was in Hufflepuff. She was one of the heroes of the war against You-Know-Who. Try being in Slytherin, when half the people still think ambition equals evil. My grandad'll probably disown me."

Bradley was confused. "I thought your grandad was in Slytherin."

Gemini was equally confused for a moment, then shook her head. "Oh, you mean Grandad Malfoy. No, I mean Grandad Weasley. We don't see much of Grandad Malfoy, he's been living as a muggle since he lost his magic."

Bradley nodded. "I heard about that. Your dad's the head of the family now, isn't he?"

"That's right. He and Mum both work with Grandad at the Ministry. Oh well, four in my dorm, that's not too bad a ratio."

Bradley's attention was drawn to a new arrival. "Here's Dora." He made to greet her, then stopped as he saw another Gryffindor girl with her and looked at the stranger, confused.

"This is Beverley,"Nymphadora explained. "She doesn't know anyone else here."

"Sit with us then,"Gemini agreed.

Beverley gave a grateful smile as she and Nymphadora sat. "Thanks. I tried to read up on everything before I came here but, you know, muggleborn. Not used to it yet. I guess you're all from old wizarding families."

"Well, yes and no,"Gemini replied. "We've all got plenty of muggle blood in us." She gestured to Nymphadora. "Her mum, my grandma, is one of the most famous muggleborns around."

Beverley looked at Nymphadora in surprise. Nymphadora nodded. "Mum and Dad both grew up in the muggle world. They made sure I know about it."

"Maybe I'm not going to be so out of place here after all."

Bradley nodded towards the staff table. "Watch out. I think we're about to get a lecture."

Harry was heading towards the door but stopped by their table. "Well, I'm spotting three students who are in my first lesson. I hope you're not going to be late."

"No, Dad,"Nymphadora agreed.

"No, Uncle Harry,"Gemini echoed.

Harry harrumphed slightly before moving on.

"Are you going to call him that in class?"Bradley asked.

Nymphadora gave a cheeky smile. "Might do."

* * *

Ron Weasley walked through the corridors of the Ministry, getting little nods from junior employees. Having been a somewhat minor figure before his election, albeit one with his own chocolate card, he wasn't sure he'd be accepted, but people were already talking about him in the same breath as Kingsley Shacklebolt. When Kingsley had finally retired as Minister, he had been replaced by Ron's old classmate Anthony Goldstein. In contrast to his progressive predecessor, Anthony's seven year tenure had been marked by a complete lack of meaningful change. Ron had swept to power two years earlier and done his best to continue the work Kingsley had begun.

He stopped by the door to Scorpius' office, knocked once and went in. He raised an eyebrow on seeing Rose there with him. "You're discussing work, right?" Scorpius was working in the Department for International Relations, while Rose had taken over her mother's old office at the Department of Law Enforcement.

"We were wondering what the new laws on free travel for muggleborns will mean for relations with Eastern Europe,"Rose explained.

"Durmstrang still won't accept them after all,"Scorpius added.

"Tell them we'll accept anyone they call a citizen and we expect them to do the same for us,"Ron replied bluntly.

"I'll pass it on,"Scorpius agreed. He gave a slight smile. "You heard how Gemini got sorted?"

Ron glared at him. "Yeah. I knew I'd regret letting you into the family. Mum's going to have to get a new wool colour now." He exited the office and headed out into the corridor…and bumped straight into his deputy, Parvati Patil.

"We need to lock down a date for you to attend the opening of the new hospital wing,"she told him.

Ron sighed. "Can't you do it? You're much better at kissing babies than I am."

"Sorry but it's the Minister they want, not his deputy. And talking of kissing babies…Aishi's been asking when you're going to come round for dinner again."

Ron gave a brief smile. "Tell her I'll come when I've run out of hospital wings to open."

* * *

Harry stood at the front of the class of first year Gryffindors and Slytherins. It was a slightly nerve-wracking experience but he had had enough useless DADA teachers in his time to know how important it was to succeed. "Defence Against the Dark Arts,"he intoned, hoping he sounded important. Somehow, training Dumbledore's Army had never been as bad as this. "It does what it says on the tin. There are a lot of witches and wizards out there and not all of them are friendly. So if you do meet one who has learned dark magic, you'll need to learn how to defend yourselves. All of you will be at Hogwarts for seven years and in that time you'll learn more and more complex defensive spells and maybe even a few that will allow you to fight back. But for the first lesson, we're going to go for something simple. Get out your wands."

There was a slight nervous murmuring among the students. One of the Slytherin boys, who Harry remembered from the register was called Jacob Marcus, raised his hand. "Aren't we going to go over theory? Dark creatures and all that?"

"That's what homework's for. Thanks for reminding me. In class…you're going to learn magic." Harry let the pronouncement hang in the air. "Now, if you're facing someone who wants to hurt you, the simplest way of stopping them is to push them away. In magical terms, we call this the Impediment Jinx. It has a simple incantation: Impedimenta. Move away from the desks and all of you line up against the far wall." Harry moved to the cardboard box on his desk, which the students started eyeing nervously. "I wasn't able to convince any dark wizards to come in and help us with the demonstration today, so instead I brought these." He held up a pair of clockwork mice and smiled. He was pleased that a few of the students were brave enough to laugh. "So…do your best to keep them away from you."

Harry placed the clockwork mice on the floor one by one and set them going at the students. The next few minutes was filled with shouts of "Impedimenta!" as students cast spells at the approaching toys. Some of the spells had little effect, some sent the mice sliding back several feet. Harry was proud to see Nymphadora was one of the most successful.

"All right!"he announced after a while. "Let's try something else. Pair up, all of you."

Beverley went up to Nymphadora. "Would you partner me?"

Nymphadora winced slightly before looking back at her niece. "I'm sorry, I already said I'd partner Gemini."

Beverley looked lost for a moment, seeing Amanda and Susan, the only other people there she knew, had already partnered up. Then a black boy came over. "Hi. Maxwell Jordan. Want to be my partner?"

Beverley smiled gratefully and they went to an empty space together.

Harry looked round. "All right, each pair stand a few feet apart. Now, I'm going to place a mouse between each of you and your job is to send it away from you and towards your partner." He laid the mice out as he spoke. "Ready? Go."

" _Impendimenta_!"Nymphadora shouted, sending the mouse towards Gemini.

" _Impendimenta_!"Gemini retorted, sending it back.

Harry smiled to himself. Things weren't going so bad so far…

* * *

At that moment, Hermione was in a similar situation, since the rest of the first years were currently in her class. She looked over rows of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, who all had feathers balanced on the desk in front of them. It was making her quite nostalgic for Professor Flitwick's classes.

"The Levitation Charm,"she told them. "One of the simplest of spells so it's a good place to begin. Wand movement like so" – she gave them a quick demonstration – "and the incanation 'Windgardium Leviosa'. Remember the pronunciation, it's very important." She glanced at the studious looking Ravenclaw boy who had been the first to be sorted. "Edward, why don't you demonstrate?"

Edward Atkins blinked, as though not quite able to believe he was being spoken to. Then he cleared his throat. "Wingardium Leviosa." Probably no-one was more surprised than him when the feather floated into the air.

Hermione gave him a smile. "Well done, Edward, ten points to Ravenclaw. Now, how about the rest of you try?"

Hermione spent the next few minutes passing among the students, giving words of approval to those who were mastering the spell and quick pointers to those who were having difficulties. It was when she got to Bradley that he gave her an awkward look. "Professor Potter…can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Bradley."

"Is it true you named Nymphadora after a Hufflepuff?"

Hermione's gaze flitted to Flavia Lupin. The girl hadn't known any of her grandparents: Remus and Tonks had been killed in the Battle of Hogwarts and Bill and Fleur in the Battle of Riddle Mansion, both long before she was born. Like Victoire, she had inherited Fleur's long wavy hair and handsome looks, but there was something of Tonks about her eyes, a liveliness and slight sense of mischief. "Yes, it's true."

"My grandma,"Flavia completed.

Bradley picked up on the implication and reddened slightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay,"Flavia answered. "I'm proud I'm related to her."

Hermione gave Bradley a sympathetic look. "The old days might be exciting to read about, Bradley, but they weren't nearly as much fun for those of us who had to live through them."

* * *

While several members of the Potter and Weasley clans had ended up at Hogwarts or the Ministry, Hermione's son was spending the morning in Diagon Alley, working in the bookshop of which he was co-owner. Two things were currently occupying Hugo's mind: The business and Marie.

Marie Lucas had been in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts and, like Hugo, had kept herself to herself, to the point that he didn't really know she existed until Professor Slughorn had surprised everyone by making them Head Boy and Girl. Working closely together, the two of them had quickly become firm friends and, on leaving school, had set up the shop together. Eight years on they were still running the shop. And Hugo still hadn't mustered up the courage to ask her out.

"Takings are down,"she noted, looking through a ledger.

"They always are when school goes back,"Hugo answered. "No-one coming in to buy their textbooks for the year anymore."

"True."

"We'll hold steady." Hugo took a deep breath. "But seeing how things _are_ quiet, Marie, I wondered if…"

He'd been interrupted many times in similar circumstances. But never by an explosion.

The window blew inwards, hit by a Blasting Curse. Hugo and Marie were both thrown to the ground. Hugo lay there for a moment, expecting more, then cautiously looked up. His eyes found Marie, lying a few inches away. "Are you all right?"he asked. She nodded and he helped her to her feet.

That was when both their eyes fell on the legend inscribed on the shop wall: " _All must follow the True Way_."


	4. Chapter 4: Suspicions of Extremism

**Thank you for the favourites, follows and reviews! Even if some people seem more interested in other stories than this one, which is starting to be a running theme. There'll be another Tomorrow People US story along sometime but for the moment I'm concentrating on this one.**

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CHAPTER FOUR: Suspicions of Extremism

Harry stared hard at the wall, almost oblivious to the work being carried out around him. Aurors were going over the shop with their wands, looking for clues. Hugo and Marie had had no serious injuries but had been taken to St Mungo's as a precaution. When Harry had received the news, he had automatically decided to go to the scene, despite not being an Auror anymore. Some instincts were hard to ignore. And it wasn't like anyone was going to stop him.

He looked round as Ron approached. If no-one was going to keep the one-time Boy Who Lived out, they definitely weren't going to block the Minister of Magic. "How's Hugo?"Harry asked.

"Cut and bruises,"Ron answered simply. "Healers say he'll be back on his feet by the end of the day." He gestured to the message on the wall, which Harry had been examining. "Ever seen anything like that?"

"No,"Harry admitted. He pointed to part of the message. "True Way. Capitals. Like it's meant to mean something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Some sort of religion?"

"More like someone else who wants thing back like they were in Fudge's day. Or Thicknesse's."

An Auror came over. He looked worryingly young to Harry, even though he was probably in his mid twenties at least. "We've finished checking things over, Minister."

Ron nodded, before it occurred to him that he should probably be making introductions. "You know Harry Potter?"

Harry offered his hand to the young man, who shook it. "Bartholomew James. Bart,"he offered.

"Pleased to meet you, Bart." Harry gestured to the wall. "Know what this is?"

"No. But it seems to be tailor made. We've only detected two spells: The Blasting Curse that blew in the window and took out most of the room, and the one that put that inscription on the wall. Some sort of charm, by the look of it. A few witnesses said it was a fly by: Figure in a cloak came down the street on a broom, cast a couple of spells in this direction as he came past."

"It's got to be a pureblood extremist,"Ron argued. "This smells of wanting a return to 'traditional values' all over. A half-blood and a muggleborn selling supplies to wizarding children? It'd get right up their nose."

Harry thought about this. There had been no major attempts to reassert pureblood supremacy since Lucius Malfoy's gambit with the Purification Device over a decade earlier, but there never seemed to be any shortage of bigots willing to start a duel in a bar with people he thought didn't belong there.

"I'm muggleborn myself, sir,"Bart commented. "I'm not sure I'd know where to look for people like that."

"Time to earn your Auror's pay, Bart,"Ron replied. "Look into it."

* * *

James and Emily were in one of the empty classrooms at Hogwarts, the one James normally used for his classes. James was pacing back and forth nervously. "I wish Albus was here,"James sighed.

Emily shot him a slightly frustrated look. "He can't get away from his tour, you know that."

"I know but…it'd be better coming from him."

Emily took him gently by the shoulders. "James, Dora and Gemini love you, you know that."

James sighed. "Yeah, I know that. I'm just…I'm not the sensitive one."

Emily smiled. "You're more sensitive than you give yourself credit for." She gave him a brief kiss.

There was a knock on the door. The Head Girl, Davina Boot, entered and then stepped aside to usher the two younger girls in. "Nymphadora Potter and Gemini Malfoy, Professor Potter."

"Thanks, Davina,"James replied, dismissing her. He sat down on the edge of his desk, gesturing for Nymphadora and Gemini to take their seats. Emily stood next to him supportively.

"What's going on, James?"Nymphadora asked.

"Everything's all right,"James told them in what he hoped was a reassuring tone of voice. "But Hugo's in St Mungo's. There was an attack on his shop. He wasn't hurt and neither was Marie, but the shop was pretty badly damaged."

"But Uncle Hugo's all right?"Gemini persisted.

James nodded. "Just a few bruises. He should be going straight home."

"Who did it?"Nymphadora asked.

"No-one knows."

Nymphadora hesitated before asking,"Not Death Eaters?"

James exchanged a look with Emily. When they were the girls' age, everyone saw Death Eaters as a thing of the past. Then his mother had been murdered by them. Since then, people had become a lot less complacent about assuming history couldn't repeat itself. "Probably not,"he answered at last.

"I've spoken to Dad and he says you don't have to go to lessons for the rest of the day,"Emily interjected.

Nymphadora looked at Gemini. "You want to come back to the Gryffindor common room with me?" Gemini nodded and Nymphadora took her hand and led her out.

Emily put her arms around James and held him silently.

* * *

Nymphadora and Gemini were on their way back to the common room when they came across Bradley and Beverley sat in the corridor. Their two friends stood up as they approached. "Are you okay?"Bradley asked, sounding worried.

Nymphadora looked at them with a trace of confusion. "What have you heard?"

"Just that Professor Potter wanted to see you,"Beverley answered.

Gemini looked at Nymphadora uncertainly. "Should we tell them? Professor Longbottom might not want it getting around school."

"It'll get around soon enough,"Nymphadora answered. She took a deep breath. "My brother Hugo, Gemini's uncle, runs a shop in Diagon Alley. A book shop."

"I know it,"Beverley realised. "I had to get my text books there."

"Well, that shop got attacked this afternoon. Someone blew the front open. Hugo and his friend Marie weren't badly hurt but…" Nymphadora trailed off.

Bradley gave her a quick hug, then released her, embarrassed. "Do they know who did it?"he asked.

"No." Nymphadora had a sudden determined expression which anyone who saw it would have recognised as a Potter family trait. "But I'm going to find out."

* * *

Hermione fluffed Hugo's pillows, provoking an annoyed look from her adult son. "Mum, I'm fine!"

Hermione withdrew her hand awkwardly. "Sorry. I just want to make sure you're all right."

"I am all right. What about Marie?"

"We checked on her just before,"Rose told him, not for the first time. "The Healers called her parents and she'll be going home soon, just like you."

"I hope so,"Hugo replied, shooting a warning look at Hermione, who looked like she was about to start another round of pillow fluffing.

"Is everything all right in here?"enquired a familiar voice as the duty Healer entered. Susannah Longbottom, formerly Susannah Amos, looked over her old friends with an amused air.

"Susannah, can I go now?"Hugo asked.

"Very soon,"Susannah replied. She looked at Hermione. "Professor Potter. Does my father-in-law know you left school in your first week?"

"Neville is perfectly aware, yes,"Hermione replied, affronted.

"Well, Hugo, you've got another visitor."

Hugo's eyes lit up as Marie entered. He held out a hand and she gratefully took it. Hermione and Rose exchanged a knowing look. "Are you all right?"he asked her.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good, because once we get out of here we need to get in touch with some decent repair people for the shop."

"You're going to reopen?"Rose asked.

"Sure I am,"Hugo replied. "We can't let them beat us." He looked at Marie, who nodded in agreement. Rose smiled, proud of him. Hugo might be quiet but there was a reason he'd been in Gryffindor.

"We'll leave you to discuss it then,"Hermione replied, ushering Rose and Susannah out. As she did so, she looked back at Hugo and Marie, who still hadn't stopped holding hands.

"Remind you of someone?"Rose asked.

"You and Scorpius?"

"Not you and Dad…or you and Uncle Harry?"

Hermione bit her lip slightly. "I guess I had moments like that with both of them. Over the years."

"Do you ever wish you and Uncle Harry had got together earlier?"

"Part of me wishes I'd had more years with him, but I think our lives turned out pretty fine. I wouldn't change a thing. Especially not you and your brother. I just hope it doesn't take those two as long to get their acts together."


	5. Chapter 5: Weekend Off

**Picked up some more followers so thank you to those people!**

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CHAPTER FIVE: Weekend Off

Harry and Hermione had been hoping to make a quick exit from their room. Unfortunately, Nymphadora and Gemini had turned up, and neither of them was very happy. Especially Nymphadora. "But why can't I come with you?"she complained.

"Because you're too young,"Harry replied simply.

Gemini screwed up her nose slightly at the pronouncement. "But Balthasar's going, and Tracey and Josh and even Amy."

"They're not Hogwarts students,"Hermione explained.

"You know the rules,"Harry continued,"Only third year and above are allowed to attend Hogsmeade visits."

Nymphadora thought for a moment. "But you could give us permission! You're teachers here, I'm sure Professor Longbottom would allow it…"

"Please, Grandma,"Gemini begged.

"I don't think Neville would allow you out if your grandad made it a ministerial decree,"Hermione replied.

"Anyway, think if you did go,"Harry continued. "Would we have to take all your friends as well? They'd think it was unfair you were being treated differently."

Nymphadora pouted slightly, realising that her father had a point.

Hermione patted the two girls on the shoulders. "We'll be sure to tell you all about it."

* * *

Soon after, a private room at the Three Broomsticks was playing host to a rather large party. Harry and Hermione had been joined by James and Emily, Rose and Scorpius, Lily and her husband Gordon Preston, and Hugo and Marie. Hugo had insisted that his guest was simply there as a friend and the others had exchanged knowing looks before nodding in acceptance. Of the younger members of the family, Tracey and Joshua had quickly co-opted Amy and were playing with her in the corner, leaving only Balthasar sat with the adults at the table and deliberately ignoring his second cousins.

"How's the restocking going?"Rose asked her brother.

Hugo pushed his glasses back onto his nose. He had had to wear them for five years, with the result that he was often mistaken for Harry's son. Hermione was aware that Ron found that mistake annoying, even though he tried not to show it. "We're having to keep most of the books in the basement for the moment. The front of the shop's still being rebuilt."

"We're open for business though,"Marie added. "So if any of you fancy popping by…"

"At least nothing similar's happened,"Emily noted.

"And thank goodness,"James agreed. "The students were a bit nervey for a few days there."

"No-one in the Muggle world's picked up on anything either,"Lily added, with Gordon giving a nod of agreement. Lily worked in the Muggle civil service, acting simultaneously as eyes and ears for the Ministry and helping to make sure that anything relating to the wizarding world was diverted to the correct departments. It was there that she had met Gordon. She'd told him the truth about being a witch six months into their relationship, and had never told him that she'd have been required to modify his memories if they'd ever broken up.

"So, probably just some idiots who thought it was fun,"Hermione concluded. "Scary and inconvenient for those involved but no great blood supremacist conspiracy."

There was a knock on the door before the last member of the gathering arrived. They'd been expecting Albus. They hadn't been expecting the pretty brunette on his arm.

"Hey, Dad, Aunt Hermione, everyone,"he greeted them. "You know Melissa Dorrans?"

"I should do,"Rose replied. "She was the only girl in our dorm who didn't give me a hard time when I was expecting Gemini. How are you, Melissa?"

Melissa gave a nervous smile. "Good, thanks." She held a hand out to Harry. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr Potter."

"You too, Melissa. Take a seat." Harry gestured to where James was already adding an extra seat to their table.

"So have you two been in touch since school?"Hermione asked.

"No, only recently,"Albus explained. "Melissa's just started working at the club as a pitch healer. We spent time together while we were on tour and we kind of clicked."

"I think it's great,"Lily said excitedly. "All we need is for you two to get married, and Hugo and Marie, and that'll be all of us." Albus and Hugo both redenned. James and Rose gave them sympathetic looks. Harry and Hermione tried not to smile. Lily looked at her husband. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you're fine, dear,"Gordon replied diplomatically.

* * *

Gemini had gone back to the Slytherin common room to study, so Nymphadora was left wandering the corridors of the school alone. She stopped by a classroom and peered round the door to find Bradley sitting there alone. "What are you reading?"

Bradley flashed the cover of the book at her. " _Murder By Magic_. It's a Horace Saxton mystery."

"You like mystery novels?"

"Yeah. But mainly I just wanted to get out of the common room and do something that didn't involve studying. Maybe something fun."

Nymphadora smiled and grabbed his hand. "Come with me. I've got an idea."

* * *

Nymphadora led Bradley out to the Quidditch pitch. There were figures in red flying about on brooms. A burly boy marched towards them. Nymphadora had had him pointed out to her as David Barrett, the captain of the Gryffindor team. He gestured to Bradley. "You can't bring him here."

"We just want to watch,"Nymphadora protested.

David looked round at Angela, who was supervising the session, an appealing look on his face. "Madame Macmillan?"

"Sorry, David, trials are an open session. You can only request a closed session during practise."

David conceded defeat and settled for glaring at Bradley. "You'd better not tell Stebbins anything you've seen."

"I don't even know who that is,"Bradley replied. David gave him another glare before going back to supervising the prospective players.

Nymphadora and Bradley took their seats up in the stands and watched the try-outs for a few minutes. "I'm surprised you're not trying out,"Bradley commented.

"They're not keen on first years trying out,"Nymphadora replied. "What about you? You trying out for Hufflepuff next year?"

"I think so. Grandad pulled a few faces when he found out where I'd been sorted but he said I should still do my best."

"Mmm. All my brothers and sisters were on the Gryffindor team, except Rose. So was Dad and loads of other members of the family. There'll be hell if I don't get in."

"You heard any more about the attack on Hugo's shop?"

Nymphadora's face darkened. "No. Mum and Dad think the Aurors have given up. But I think it's not over yet."


	6. Chapter 6: Second Strike

**Thank you for the review and for any more follows and favourites! Hope you enjoy this one.**

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CHAPTER SIX: Second Strike

Harry had arrived at the Ministry early in the morning and quickly made his way through the security checks before being shown to Ron's office. Ron had greeted him politely and shown him into a seat opposite his desk. "What's the problem, Harry?"

"It's this attack. This True Way."

"I thought we'd dismissed all that."

"Well, someone blew that window open."

"True. But at the moment we haven't got any leads to investigate."

Harry drummed his fingers on the desk, far from satisfied by Ron's response. "So what, you're just going to give up?"

"What else can I do?"

"I don't know. But this is Hugo. Remember, your son?"

"Yeah, I know who he is. But that's why I can't get too involved in this. He can't get special treatment."

Harry sighed. He was aware that Ron had a point but that didn't mean he had to like it. "I just…I think there's more to this, Ron. It's a feeling I've got."

Ron glared at him. "You know I never realised how irritating it was for the teachers when you came out with things like that. Kingsley too, probably. This isn't that scar of yours giving you trouble again, is it?"

"Not in thirty-five years. This is something else. I know I'm not an Auror anymore but I've still got instincts."

"Okay. I guess I can talk to Bart James again, see if there's anything more he can do."

"Well, anything I can do to help…"

"And Hermione too?"

"We do come as a package."

"Yeah,"Ron sighed. "You always have done."

Any retort Harry might have come out with was forstalled by the entrance of the Deputy Minister of Magic and an eight-year-old girl, who Parvati gently steered in front of her. At the sight of them, Ron's mood changed instantly. He looked down at the girl, who was holding out some folders to him, and smiled. "Hello, Aishi. Are you my new deputy?"

"Just for today,"Aishi replied, smiling.

"Her school has got the day off,"Parvati explained. "I had to bring her in."

Ron waved a hand dismissively. "It's okay. You're always welcome, aren't you, Aishi?"

Harry watched the three of them together. Ron and Parvati had been a couple once, of course, not long after Harry and Hermione got together. When they'd broken up, Parvati had married Trevor Slattery, a much older wizard. The marriage had lasted just long enough to produce Aishi, shortly after which Trevor had died when he fell off his broom while drunk. The fact that Parvati had promptly changed both hers and Aishi's name to her maiden name, Patel, had raised a few eyebrows. The tabloids had often suggested that she and Ron were more than friends. Seeing them together, Harry often suspected there was some sort of arrangement between them. If so, he didn't begrudge Ron any happiness and it was obvious he and Aishi got on well. But at the moment, their closeness meant his meeting was over.

"Let me know if there are any developments,"he concluded before letting himself out.

* * *

Nymphadora shot a nervous glance at the broom lying next to her. It wasn't as though she'd never seen one before, of course. And if most of the family had had their way, they'd have been giving her private lessons as soon as she'd been able to walk, if not earlier. Her mother had put her foot down though and refused to allow her anywhere near one. Which didn't mean that James and Albus hadn't given her a few pointers…

Gemini and Beverley were stood on either side of her. She missed Bradley but it was another class that Gryffindor shared with Slytherin, so he was currently sharing Potions class with the Ravenclaws. "This isn't going to work for me,"Beverley sighed.

Nymphadora gave her a sympathetic look. She'd often been told the story of her parents' first Flying lesson, how her father had been a natural and how it was the first time he'd actually bested her mother at something. It was one of the few things Hermione was actually niggled about. "You never know."

"I've heard half the class don't manage to do anything in the first lesson,"Gemini noted. "So if nothing happens, that's not bad, right?"

Angela came stalking across the grass towards them. "Does everyone have a broom?" There were a few nods and murmurs of assent from the students. "Then the first thing you need to do is control it. This is one of the simplest forms of wandless magic. The brooms are attuned to your magical core, so a few simple hand movements and concentration are all you need." She looked across the line of students. "All of you, try and summon the wand into your hand."

Nymphadora took a deep breath, stretched out her hand and tried to summon the broom. Nothing happened. She heard a few gasps and cheers further along the line and looked across to see that Maxwell Jordan had been the first to summon his broom. Verity Higgs of Slytherin soon followed, as did Gareth Daker. Nymphadora took another breath, relaxed…and the broom flew into her hand. She heard a surprised and delighted gasp from her right as Beverley managed to summon hers. Gemini followed soon after. Susan Green was the last to master it, looking mightily relieved.

Angela smiled. "Well done, everyone. All right, follow me out onto the field."

As Nymphadora did so, she hoped the next part would go well. After all, she had a lot of family history to live up to…

* * *

At that moment, Albus was also preparing to fly a broom. It was the Barsey Buccaneers' game against the Taventry Tigers, with Albus filling the role of first team seeker. He should have been in the tunnel but instead he had hung back with Melissa, who was giving him a rather lengthy good luck kiss. "Try not to fall off,"was her last bit of advice.

"I'll do my best,"he agreed, before hurrying to join the rest of the team.

As the teams were announced and Albus flew up into the air alongside his teammates, he scanned the crowd and picked up Lily and Gordon in their regular seats. Lily waved at him enthusiastically. Albus managed a smile in return.

"I wish Amy could have come,"Lily sighed wistfully.

"We agreed next year,"Gordon reminded her. Despite having had several years to get used to the magical world, he was still looking around in bemusement.

The game started. Albus quickly ignored what the rest of the team were getting up to, confident that the team's beaters knew to make sure he wasn't bothered by a bludger. Instead, he was focused on the twin concerns of the Taventry seeker and the whereabouts of the snitch.

So he didn't notice when there were suddenly more flyers on the pitch than there should have been.

The intruders numbered ten, all of them wearing blue robes and cowls that covered their faces. They began firing off shouts of " _Expulso_!", " _Bombarda_!" and " _Confringo_!", until the air around the players was filled with explosions. Several players were knocked off their brooms and the pitch staff began casting Cushioning Charms, while others began belatedly returning fire on the attackers.

Lily was tempted to join in with the skirmish but was aware that the non-magical Gordon was vulnerable. She cast a Shield Charm around them, deflecting a few stray sparks.

Albus was one of the last players to fall, knocked off his broom by two explosions on either side. As he was brought down to a safe landing, he saw the attackers flying away unharmed, leaving their message in the sky. _All must follow the True Way._


	7. Chapter 7: The Investigation Begins

**Thank you for the favourite, follow and review!**

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CHAPTER SEVEN: The Investigation Begins

Harry stood in the middle of the pitch, looking up into the sky. The message still remained. It could be dispersed easily with a few simple spells but it was needed for evidence at the moment. The stadium had long since been evacuated of players and spectators, with only the Aurors and Ministry officials remaining.

Ron and Bart came over to him. "Looks like you were right,"Ron remarked awkwardly.

Harry gave a small smile. "Does it help if I say I wish I hadn't been?"

"How's Albus?"

"Back home. Hermione's going to check on him with the kids."

"That's both our sons have been attacked now. Do you think there's a connection?"

Harry shrugged. "We could be being targeted. But if we are, then whoever's behind it all doesn't care who else they hurt." He looked at Bart. "Was there anyone else hurt?"

"No-one severely. Few broken bones. It'll keep St Mungo's busy for a bit."

Harry was mulling things over. "If whoever's behind this is into blood purity, they seem to be attacking institutions that encourage mixed heritage."

"Like the Ministry?"Ron asked. "Or Hogwarts?"

"Maybe. But I don't think they're bold enough to attack something with that strong defences yet. They'll go for something else first. Something smaller, more vulnerable…"

Ron looked at Bart. "How are we going for suspects?"

"We've been looking through our files for pureblood extremists,"Bart explained. "Most of the old Death Eaters are still in Azkaban. The ones that aren't dead, that is. Quite a few of them died there."

"The ones still there could be working through their relatives, directing them to do this from inside. It wouldn't be the first time."

"We're looking into that. There are two that have been released. Derrick and Bole? We've had them in for questioning…"

Harry shook his head. "Derrick and Bole are followers, not leaders. They might join up with whoever's behind this but they're not our masterminds."

"Well, I'll keep looking then."

Harry gave the younger man a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you'll find something." He waited until Bart had moved off before turning to Ron. "There is something else we can do. Another way of investigating."

It took Ron a moment to realise what Harry was getting at. "You want the Order involved?"

"We do have a history of getting to the bottom of these conspiracies."

"I'm not sure I can agree to that. I know Kingsley gave you leeway but I've been doing my best to clear the Ministry of corruption. Having to rely on outsiders…"

"You are still a member of the Order."

"I know but…" Ron trailed off but Harry knew what he was thinking. The Order of the Phoenix hadn't seen active service since the Purification Device incident. To most of its members, it had become little more than a social club. "Just give us time."

"Members are bound to talk about it,"Harry pointed out.

"And that's okay. Just…nothing organised. Not yet."

* * *

Melissa helped Albus into a chair in the front room. He winced a lot, although she suspected much of it was for show. "You sure you're all right to be home?"she asked sarcastically.

"The healers said I'd be fine,"Albus said with an exaggerated pained tone. "I just have to take it easy."

"I'm sure." Melissa's role as nursemaid was interrupted by a knock on the door. "I'll get that, shall I?"

Albus settled down in the chair and a moment later a large crowd of Potters and Weasleys entered. Rose, Lily and Hugo were in front, with Hermione, James and Emily bringing up the rear. In between them were Nymphadora and Gemini. "It took a lot of arguing to get these two out of school,"Hermione noted. "So you'd better be worth it."

Albus grinned. "Thanks, Aunt Hermione." He gave the two girls a brief hug. "So how's Hogwarts treating you?"

"Awful,"Nymphadora replied.

"We have to do so much homework,"Gemini sighed.

"Had any detentions yet?"Albus asked. They shook their heads. "By the time they'd been at school as long as you two, James and Martin had had seven."

"Cheers for that, bruv,"James sighed. "Remind me to tell some stories where you don't come over too well some time."

"I always said my brother was a bad influence on you,"Emily remarked.

James put an arm round her. "It's lucky I've got you to be a good influence then. Like Melissa hopefully will be for Albus."

Albus became serious suddenly and looked at Hermione. "Is Dad looking into what happened?"

"He's talking to Ron. But…who knows?"

"It's just…it reminded me of something." He locked eyes with James. "Quidditch, in my third year?"

James shook his head. "Mate, don't even go there."

"A Dark Mark appeared in the sky just after we'd won the match. And not long after…"

"Mum was killed,"Lily said quietly.

"This is completely different,"Rose said sharply, her gaze falling on her daughter and half-sister who were looking extremely disconcerted.

"That's what we thought then,"Albus replied.

"Al's right,"James admitted. "We thought then that we were safe, that the old troubles couldn't start up again. And people died because we weren't ready. We nearly joined them."

"What are you saying?"Emily asked.

"I don't know. Just that we need to be ready. I'm going to talk to your dad and mine about setting up a duelling club."

"Can't hurt,"Hugo agreed.

"No, it can't,"Emily conceded.

James looked at Rose, who reluctantly nodded. Hermione did the same.

"But that's enough of the serious stuff,"Albus concluded. "Anyone up for a game of Quidditch Subbuteo?"


	8. Chapter 8: Last Christmas

**Thank you for the reviews! My British eccentricity showing through there: I have no idea what Quidditch Subbuteo would look like that but it sounds fun...**

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CHAPTER EIGHT: Last Christmas

It was the Christmas holidays and the Potter family had returned to the house that Harry and Hermione had bought shortly before they got married. With the older children having long since moved out, the only people staying there were the two of them and Nymphadora. So when Christmas morning came, the three of them opened their presents around the breakfast table.

Hermione had gifted books, of course, and Harry was thumbing through the old Defence Against the Dark Arts textbooks she'd managed to track down, looking for useful ideas. Hermione herself was proudly wearing the broach Harry had bought her. Nymphadora had been given a smaller one but was mostly looking to try out the Quidditch beginners set she'd been given, which included softer balls than the ones used during games. Her mood was only dampened when Hermione insisted it was too cold outside for her to try it out and even that wasn't enough to keep her quiet for long.

Their chattering was interrupted by the sound of the front door. Albus had let himself in with his own key and put his head round the dining room door. "Merry Christmas."

Nymphadora quickly ran to hug him. "Merry Christmas, Al."

Harry and Hermione were also on their feet. "Merry Christmas, Al,"Harry echoed, shaking his son's hand.

"Thanks, Dad,"Albus responded. "I just thought I'd drop by with your presents and see you. I'm not going to be there later."

"You're not going to Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's?"Nymphadora asked, astonished. She wasn't actually related to the Weasleys, of course, but, given that all her half-siblings were, Molly and Arthur looked on her as an honorary granddaughter. "But we always go! You haven't not been since…since…" She fumbled for a moment before deciding "…since never!"

Harry gave Hermione a quick glance: The last time they hadn't been to the Weasleys' for Christmas was the first year after she and Ron had broken up. It had just been the two of them with James, Albus and Lily, in the house where they were now.

"I know,"Albus was reassuring his sister. "But it's my first Christmas with Melissa and we wanted to spend it together."

"Bring her along!"Nymphadora insisted. "Grandma Weasley always says the more, the merrier!"

"Maybe Albus and Melissa want to be alone, Dora,"Hermione suggested quietly.

Nymphadora thought about this for a moment, grimaced briefly, then broke into a grin. "Okay. But you'd better have got me a good present to make up for it."

* * *

Molly Weasley gave her traditional cry of delight when the three of them arrived at the Burrow. "Harry and Hermione!" She gave them both hugs which, while not the bone crushers of their youth, were nevertheless warm, then gave one of her best hugs to Nymphadora.

Arthur came over as well and shook Harry's hand. "Good to see you, Harry,"he said quietly, giving him a genuine smile. Harry was happy to return it.

Harry looked around the room. Percy was in the middle of sounding off to Teddy and Victoire about his favourite subject, the state of the Ministry and how it was different in his day. Nymphadora had managed to slip away from her parents in the confusion and was sitting in a corner chatting with Gemini, Flavia and Tracey. Balthasar and Joshua seemed to be playing a new tennis game that had probably been a present for one of them, while Teddy and Victoire's other two children, Andros and Stephanie, shouted encouragement. Harry realised his other children and stepchildren must be around if their children were. He quickly picked out James and Emily, Rose and Scorpius, Lily and Gordon with Amy by their side… and Hugo, who, Harry was amused to see, had brought Marie with him. They all nodded in turn at his greetings.

"When's Albus coming?"Lily asked.

"He's having to give it a miss this year,"Harry explained. "He's got a new girlfriend,"he added for Molly's benefit. She smiled in understanding.

There was another knock on the door and Harry and Hermione stepped aside as Ron entered, with Parvati and Aishi. "Two more for dinner, Mum?"

"Of course, dear,"Molly agreed. She'd long had a certain fondness for Parvati, who she probably still hoped would be her daughter-in-law one day. Amy had detached herself from her parents at the sight of a girl closer to her own age and they were presently listing their presents to each other.

"Padma's visiting family in India over the holiday,"Parvati explained before giving Ron a mock look of admonishment. "But the boss only gave me a couple of days off."

"Any room at the inn?"asked George as he arrived with his wife Lisa and stepdaughter Davina. Lisa Turpin, as she was when they'd been at Hogwarts, had married Terry Boot but the marriage had eventually broken down. She and George had been together for eight years now, after she'd finally convinced him to end what seemed like a lifelong bacherlorhood.

"Professor Potters,"Davina greeted them formally.

"It's Harry when we're not in school, Davina,"Harry reminded her.

Hermione gave the Head Girl a teasing look. "Goodness knows how you'll react when the headmaster turns up."

Davina seemed to go pale. "Professor Longbottom's coming?"

"Have you got any more of that calming draught?"George asked his wife quietly.

* * *

Neville and Luna had made it in time for dinner, along with Martin and Susannah and their children Tony and Leonard, introducing another round of greetings. Everyone had stayed well into the evening, eating and singing. It was a traditional Christmas at the Burrow.

Yet somehow Harry felt uneasy. Because some sense told him that it would be the last Christmas of its kind.


	9. Chapter 9: Taking Stock

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* * *

CHAPTER NINE: Taking Stock

The holidays ultimately drew to a close and it was time to get back on the Hogwarts train. Harry and Hermione had considered travelling down on it again, but had instead decided to apparate back to Hogsmeade with James and his family. They said a quick farewell to Nymphadora at the platform before letting her go back to her friends.

Ron had brought Gemini down and was looking at his granddaughter's uniform in mock despair. "How did you end up in Slytherin?"

"I must take after you, Grandad,"Gemini suggested.

Ron looked at her suspiciously. "Go on."

"Well, it means I'm ambituous. And you can't be more ambitious than being Minister of Magic."

Ron smiled at her. "Well, you've got your mother's brains. Go on, get off."

As the students boarded the train, Harry went over to the Minister. "Ron…"

"Later,"Ron said sharply.

Hermione looked at Harry curiously. "Later,"he mouthed.

* * *

Nymphadora and Gemini had found a carriage with Bradley and Beverley. Things had started off ebullient between them but as the train ride went on, they began to lapse into silence. "Have you heard anything?"Beverley asked at last.

"Haven't you?"Nymphadora responded.

"I'm muggleborn, remember? I didn't even know this world existed until a few months ago."

"You should subscribe to the Daily Prophet,"Bradley suggested. "They deliver to muggleborn witches."

"Thanks. But you're not answering my question."

There was silence for a few moments. "We've heard rumours,"Gemini admitted. "Mum and Dad kept going all quiet when we asked them how things were going at the Ministry."

"I think my dad knows something too,"Nymphadora added. "He tends to keep in touch with his old friends from when he was an Auror. He spent a lot of time in his study."

"He might just have been doing some preparation work for school?"Beverley suggested hopefully.

"No, he's never that organised. Mum's always nagging him about it."

Beverley glanced at Bradley, as though hoping he'd have some better news. Or just no news. He shrugged. "I haven't heard anything either but…I heard Mum and Dad whispering. They said that not everything reaches the papers. My grandad's a quidditch coach, he said that they've got Aurors stationed at all public events now. Just in case."

Beverley nodded slowly. "So what are we going to do about it?"

* * *

James watched his children, now safely ensconced back in their home in Hogsmeade. Tracey was sat reading a book, while Joshua was keeping himself amused with a bat and ball game. James kept his gaze on them for some time before going and joining Emily in the kitchen. "I really hoped that they'd grow up in peace,"he said quietly.

Emily gave him a slightly amused look. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No. More like there's something I don't know. There's a tension in the air, like something's coming. I haven't felt it since Rodolphus Lestrange and Voldemort's ghost."

"It's not like our childhood was that bad,"Emily pointed out. "There weren't any wars or anything. Just the odd extremist plot."

James gave a slight smile. "Do you remember the days when I always used to insist that we investigate whatever was going on?"

"Oh yes. And we tended to come in quite useful despite everything, as I recall." She paused. "I wasn't with you the first time though. You going missing like that, it was the hardest time of my life."

"I'm sorry."

Emily shook her head. "It made me realise how much I loved you."

"Same here." James took her hand and pulled her towards him, kissing her. They stood there for a few moments, locked in a soft embrace, before reluctantly stepping apart. James lowered his gaze. "I just hope Nymphadora doesn't take after me."

"You might be out of luck there,"Emily remarked with a slight smile. "She's a Potter, that one."

* * *

Harry and Hermione had retired to their room on their return to Hogwarts. Harry had immediately sat at his desk and begun looking through papers. Hermione watched him for a time before her frustration became too great. "Come on, Harry, out with it."

Harry shot her a look of faux innocence. "Hmm?"

"What is it you know and I don't? There's something going on here."

Harry put down his quill, abandoning the pretence. "The attacks are still going on, Hermione. No-one's talking about them, the papers are keeping quiet, but…there've been incidents. Shops have been attacked. There was even an Elder beaten as he was about to perform a marriage between a pureblood and a muggleborn."

Hermione gaped at the news. "And the Ministry's covering this up?"

"I guess they don't want to worry people. They're hoping they can sort it out quickly. I just wish I could get the Order onto it."

Hermione was confused. "Why can't you?"

Harry sighed. "Because Ron asked me not to. I guess he feels it would show he has no confidence in the Ministry if he has to turn to an unofficial agency."

"Well, that's just silly,"Hermione snapped. "You still ran the Order when you were an Auror."

"I know, but Ron needs to do this his way."

"It sounds like he's turning into another Fudge."

Harry paused for a moment. "We've all got a bit of Fudge in us." Hermione bit her lip; she knew Harry still felt guilty for ignoring the early signs the Death Eaters were returning…and felt that he might have saved Ginny if he'd acted sooner. "But no, Ron's not the same,"Harry continued. "He's not pretending nothing's going on, he just wants to deal with it quietly."

"Do you think he can?"Hermione asked.

Harry didn't answer.


	10. Chapter 10: Brought to the Order

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CHAPTER TEN: Brought to the Order

Even after all the decades that had passed, 12 Grimmauld Place remained the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The group had not been pressed into service in eleven years but still met on a social basis. The peaceful times had meant that very few new members had been recruited, but Harry had been sure to enroll his children and their friends once they came of age.

There were few people there at that time. Harry had made sure of that. Himself and Hermione, Neville and Luna, James and Emily, Rose and Scorpius…and Seamus Finnegan, who Harry trusted to keep things quiet. And, of course, their two guests.

"I don't want the entire Order in on this,"he told them. "The Ministry is handling things. But I want us to discuss it. And there's one area we can look at which the Aurors won't." He looked at the two guests. "Which is why you're here."

Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursley looked back at him uncertainly. It had taken a fair amount of guiding and persuading to convince them to come there. Since Draco had been depowered, the pair had worked together in Dudley's burglar alarm business, as Draco and his second wife Pansy tried to live as muggles.

"Yeah, what are they doing here?"Seamus asked, who had never been one to forgive and forget.

"Because they can tell us what's going on in the muggle world,"Harry answered.

"Don't you have your Ministry spies for that?"Draco asked sarcastically. "Or has putting a Weasley in charge not worked out how you thought?"

"Please, Dad,"Scorpius persisted. "You're almost unique. Someone who grew up in our world and went to live in the muggle world. There must be something you noticed."

Draco glanced at Dudley. "There was one thing."

Dudley produced a rolled up newspaper. "We saw this advert in the Telegraph."

Harry looked at the advert, the others crowding around. "What is it?"Emily asked.

"It's about a new clinic,"Rose replied. "They seem to be conducting research. They're asking for help from all children under fifteen who demonstrate certain symptoms." She paused as she read on, looking up at her mother.

Hermione had reached the same conclusion. "Harry, this is accidental magic they're talking about. Someone's trying to find muggleborn children!"

"But why?"Harry wondered.

"Maybe they want to kill them,"Neville suggested. "Keep the blood lines pure."

Draco snorted. "Yeah, trust someone to think of that."

"They could be trying to form an army,"Luna added. "I've heard stories about children's gangs."

"I thought you had rules about that?"Dudley asked. "Underage magic?"

"Well, whoever's doing this doesn't care much about rules,"Hermione answered.

"How do we find out what they _are_ doing?"James wondered.

"The only person who could get in there without attracting suspicion is a muggleborn child,"Harry mused. "Fortunately, we've got access to the biggest concentration of muggleborn children in Britain."

* * *

In the library at Hogwarts, Nymphadora, Gemini, Bradley and Beverley were sat around a table reading books. But the books they were reading had very little to do with schoolwork. They were consulting some Daily Prophet annuals on recent history.

"Here it is,"Bradley said at last. He pushed a book towards Nymphadora. "The Death Eater revival fifteen years ago."

Nymphadora nodded. "James, Albus and Rose have told me about it. Not much though. But it started with a Dark Mark above a quidditch game, like the message at Albus' game."

"But that wasn't a Dark Mark,"Beverley pointed out.

"So we're probably not dealing with Death Eaters,"Nymphadora agreed.

"Then who are we dealing with?"Gemini asked.

"I don't know. Something new."

"That's what I thought,"another voice interrupted them. The four first years turned round in shock to find Harry walking towards them with Hermione, Neville, James and, slightly surprisingly, Rose and Scorpius.

James gave Rose and Scorpius an amused look. "Brings back memories, huh?"

"What do you mean?"Gemini asked cautiously.

"He means that fifteen years ago, the three of us, with Uncle Albus and Uncle Martin, were sat where you are,"Rose explained. "Looking into the Death Eater revival. And it didn't end that well for us."

Gemini sighed. "So you want us to give up?"

"No,"Harry replied simply.

That silenced nearly everyone in the room. "Come again?"Bradley asked.

"We're not going to ask you to give up,"Harry replied. "But we are going to ask you to work with us."

"Sounds like the same thing,"Nymphadora noted.

"No, not necessarily,"Hermione persisted. "We really might need your help." She bit her lip slightly before adding,"Especially you, Beverley."

"I'm really not sure about this,"Neville interceded. "These students are under our charge."

"They're our children,"Rose said sharply. "Not yours."

"Even so. And Bradley and Beverley aren't anyone's. Anyone's here, I mean."

"I could get in touch with Bradley's family,"Harry replied. "There's enough Order members among them."

"And muggleborns rarely need anyone's permission to get involved,"Hermione noted with a smile.

Neville still wasn't convinced. "I saw my children get dragged into this stuff before they were ready for it. I'm not sure I'm ready for my grandchildren to do the same."

"I seem to remember you thinking differently when we went off to the Department of Mysteries,"Harry commented.

"We were older."

"So were we,"Scorpius put in. "But we won't ask them to do anything dangerous."

Beverley raised a hand cautiously. "Um...what exactly were you going to ask us to do?"

Before anyone could explain their thoughts to her, a shrill whining filled the air. Gargoyles and paintings began milling about in panic. Some of the figures on the paintings began rapping on their frames. "Headmaster! Headmaster!"they called.

"What's going on?"Scorpius asked.

"It's the alarm,"Neville realised, shocked. "Someone must have tripped it. Probably Ernie, Professor Macmillan. I left him in charge of the wards."

"But what does it mean?"Nymphadora answered.

Neville swallowed hard before answering. "It means Hogwarts is under attack."


	11. Chapter 11: Battle at Hogwarts

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* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN:Battle at Hogwarts

Harry, Hermione, Neville and James dashed through the corridors of Hogwarts. Students and even a few teachers were showing signs of the panic that had gripped the castle. Harry considered stopping to try and calm some of them but that was a job for others. The four of them had somewhere else to be.

When they arrived at the headmaster's office, Ernie had his back to them as he was addressing the portraits of previous headmasters. "What about the Minister?"he was asking. "Can you get in touch with him?"

"All of us have made every effort to alert the Ministry,"Professor Dumbledore replied. "It does, however, appear to be deserted."

"That is hardly surprising,"Professor Snape replied sardonically,"given the curious choices made by the wizarding public as to who should lead them." His gaze flickered to the newcomers. "Is that a Potter I see before me? I thought that having Longbottom as headmaster was the lowest that Hogwarts could sink."

"Always a pleasure, Snape,"Harry returned.

"And it's three Potters, actually,"Hermione added.

Snape sniffed. "What a curious dynasty."

"Be quiet, Severus,"snapped Professor McGonagall from the next frame. "I'm sure Harry and the others have better things to do than listen to _your_ opinions."

Ernie at least looked relieved to see them. "Headmaster."

"What's happened?"Neville asked.

"We've got flyers coming in from all directions. It's only been strafing runs so far but they're too close to put a shield up. There've been a few Blasting Curses that have knocked chunks out of the upper levels."

"What have we got in the way of defenders?"asked James.

"Just the staff. I've been trying to contact the Ministry for reinforcements but nothing's getting through. I've tried the floo network and sending the portraits but there's no answer."

"Have you got a look at the attackers?"Hermione asked.

"Just a glimpse. They're wearing masks."

"Like Death Eaters?"James wondered.

"No. They seem more basic than that."

"We can get to the battlements,"Harry offered. "See if we can stage a counter-attack from there."

"Good idea,"Neville agreed. He took out a gold coin from his pocket that brought a smile of recognition from Harry. "I'll see if I can get us some reinforcements."

* * *

The school's Head Boy and Girl, Marco DeFreitas and Davina Boot, were ushering students into the castle dungeons, where emergency shelters had been established in case of an attack. Nymphadora, Gemini, Bradley and Beverley came running down the corridor. "Come on, get in,"Davina snapped irritably. "Where have you been?"

"The library,"Nymphadora answered.

"Okay…well, find a space."

"Is that the last of them?"Marco asked as the four first years filed in. Davina nodded. "Okay, I'll activate the Protego Charms."

The four friends had sat down against one wall. Beverley had started shaking and crying. Nymphadora put an arm round her. "It's okay,"she said quietly. "My mum and dad will sort this. They do it a lot." She glanced at Gemini and held out her other arm invitingly. Her niece cuddled up to her.

Bradley leaned forward and placed his hand over Nymphadora's. She smiled gratefully.

* * *

Ernie and Angela were organised a group of staff in setting up a barricade near the entrance hall. "Do you think a group of us should take brooms and try and fight them up there?"Angela asked.

Ernie shook his head. "Too risky. You'd be outnumbered. They can't do too much damage up there. Best to make our stand here."

Neville walked over to them. "Good news: I've got reinforcements."

Ernie looked relieved. "You got the Ministry to send some Aurors?"

"Better than that. My wife's here." Neville nodded over to where Luna was leading Seamus and his wife Hannah, Martin, Susannah, Albus, Lily, Hugo, Oliver Wood, Katie Bell and Timothy and Helena Wood down the corridor towards them.

Luna stopped in front of the deputy head. "Hello, Ernie. Or do I need to call you Professor Macmillan? It's very nice to see you again. Where should we go?"

Ernie fought down his first instinct to reject the offer. After all, he had seen Luna in action quite a few times over the years and knew she was tougher than she looked. Or acted. "How about you take charge of the left hand side? I can take the right and Neville can take the centre."

"I think that's a very good idea, Professor,"Luna agreed, indicating for Martin, Susannah, Albus, Lily and Hugo to join her in reinforcing a group of staff.

"That was a DA coin you had, wasn't it?"Ernie asked Neville.

Neville nodded. "Still the best way to summon help. Luna rounded up everyone she could find and came straight here. Heard anything from Harry?"

* * *

Harry, Hermione, James, Emily, Rose and Scorpius were on the roof, looking up at the masked figures on brooms carrying out constant flypasts. "Why do we always find ourselves in these situations?"Hermione sighed.

Harry smiled at her. "It does seem rather like that, doesn't it?" He noticed one of the attackers casting a spell. " _Protego_!"he responded, deflecting the Blasting Curse.

"We're not going to get very far just blocking them,"James pointed out.

Harry reluctantly nodded. "Okay, but let's try and use minimal force. _Expelliarmus_!"

" _Expelliarmus_!"Hermione echoed, managing to disarm the next wizard swooping in.

" _Impendimenta_!"shouted Rose, sending an attacker spinning away.

" _Confringo_!"James snapped, aiming the blast in between two attackers and sending them both spinning in opposite directions.

A group of attackers swooped down below the roof. Rose and Scorpius tracked them, waiting for them to reappear, but they didn't.

"What just happened?"James wondered.

Harry hesitated. "I think they just landed."

* * *

The followers of the True Way had charged in through the main doors of Hogwarts only to run straight into the barricade. Neville, Ernie, Luna and the others hurled spells at them. However, a few Blasting Curses soon began to blow away their cover. "Pick duelling opponents,"Neville ordered.

Seamus and Hannah double teamed one of the attackers, as did Martin and Susannah. Neville took on the man who appeared to be the leader of the group. Luna aimed a Stinging Jinx at another of the attackers. It blew his mask off his face and caused him to recoil away, covering his face with his sleeves. "I'm sorry I had to hurt you,"she said sincerely. "But you are trying to attack us."

Angela and Timothy both went down from Stunning Spells. Neville took a Body Bind Curse in the side and went down. Albus stepped up to battle the group leader but was also knocked aside. Alongside him, Lily was duelling a pair of opponents, with Hugo and Helena offering her cover from anyone who wanted to ambush her.

The group's leader ran through the remains of the barricade. Hermione, James and Emily came running down stairs nearby. Hermione saw the fleeing attacker. "Help the others,"she told James and Emily. "I'll see who that is."

* * *

Hermione followed the masked figure into the Great Hall. He looked round and she saw the fury in his eyes underneath his mask. "Where are they?"

It took Hermione a moment to realised what he meant. "The students? Somewhere safe."

"All blood statuses in together, I suppose?"

"Of course. The way it's always been."

"The way it's always been, yes. Self-perpetuating slavery."

The comment made Hermione puzzled. "Slavery? Everyone's equal here."

"Coffee that's too black, too strong. You integrate it with cream, you make it weak."

Hermione attempted to bring the conversation back under control. "Look, whoever you are, this isn't going the way you expected it to. Why don't you just surrender?"

"We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we will never surrender." He saw Hermione hefting her wand. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Me to fight you. So you can beat me. Show how superior you are. I know better than that. _Lumos Maxima_!"

The sudden bright light dazzled Hermione for a moment. When she could see again, he was gone.

* * *

Harry stood on the battlements with Rose and Scorpius. The True Way had obviously decided to cut their losses. They were retreating on brooms, many of them carrying injured or unconscious passengers. "Do we try and stop them?"Scorpius asked.

Harry shook his head. "Let them go. I doubt they'll stay in hiding for long. Anyway…I never have liked turning Hogwarts into a battle ground."

* * *

Harry went downstairs to find the few injuries sustained in the brief battle being treated. Neville was sitting on a step, having a small cut on his head bathed by Luna. He gave Harry a sheepish look. Harry checked briefly with James, Albus and Lily before heading into the entrance hall.

Hermione was crouched on the ground, twirling an object in his hand. She looked up as Harry approached. "This was the mask one of the True Way was wearing. Luna knocked it off him." She held it up. "Harry…it's Richard Nixon."

Harry was amused. "Are we saying he was a dark wizard? Because that would explain a lot."

"Harry, think about it. Someone must have gone into a muggle joke shop or costumiers to get this. I spoke with their leader."

"Notice anything about him?"

Hermione shrugged. "He was young. 20s or 30s, judging by his voice. But there was something else. He quoted Winston Churchill! And something else he said was familiar as well, I'm just not sure from where."

"So…he took Muggle Studies?"

"And paid attention to the words? Remembered them, took them to heart? The words of the people he hates? Harry, I don't think we're dealing with pureblood supremacists here. I think something else is going on."


	12. Chapter 12: The Muggleborns Clinic

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CHAPTER TWELVE: The Muggleborns Clinic

It was a quiet alleyway in an ordinary street. The last place you'd expect to find any magic. Yet that was the place that Harry, Hermione, Nymphadora and Beverley apparated to.

Harry looked around cautiously. Apparating into the muggle world was not something to be recommended and often a prelude to having the Statute of Magical Secrecy quoted at you. But they had needed to get Beverley there and Nymphadora had insisted on coming too. It was the only way to get the two girls away from Hogwarts as unobtrusively as possible.

"The clinic's just round the corner,"he told Beverley. "Hermione and I can't go in there. If anyone from our world is running the place, then they'll recognise us."

"But if it is the True Way, won't they try and hurt her?"asked Nymphadora.

Harry smiled. "Present courtesy of George." He pinned a plastic flower to Beverley's jacket.

Nymphadora didn't seem convinced. "What does that do, squirt a never-ending stream of water?"

"No." Harry produced a mirror and showed it to her. It showed an image of what was directly in front of Beverley.

"With this, we'll be able to see and hear what you see,"Hermione explained to Beverley. She paused adding, "You don't have to do this if you don't want."

"I kind of do,"Beverley replied. "If someone's trying to track down muggleborns, then here I am. We need to see what they're doing with us."

Hermione smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Good luck."

* * *

Beverley walked into the clinic. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but a kindly looking man who seemed to be somewhere in his 70s wasn't it. He smiled at her. "Yes, my dear, what can I do for you?"

Beverley took a deep breath. "I've come about the advert in the paper. Tests? If you suddenly find things moving around you or flowers springing to life?"

"Ah, yes, splendid! It's just a few simple tests. Nothing to worry about, nothing that will hurt." He waved her towards a couch. "I'm Doctor Nevin. And you are..?"

"Belinda Cardew." They had all agreed that Beverley shouldn't give her real name.

"Splendid. I'll need your details in a minute in case we need to contact you. I'm afraid I'll need to take a blood sample."

Beverley reluctantly rolled up her sleeve. "What's this all about?"

"An important research project at Cambridge,"Nevin replied grandly. "The researcher is looking into ESP. He seems to believe there's physical evidence of who is and isn't possessed of those rare talents. It's not something I've heard of before myself but he hired me to run this clinic and, well, my pension only goes so far." He seemed to suddenly realise he was saying too much and looked embarrassed. "Now, let's get down to this."

* * *

In the alleyway alongside the clinic, Harry drew his wand, passing the mirror to Hermione. "Harry, what are you doing?"she asked.

"A simple test." Harry waved his wand in the direction of the clinic and looked at its tip. "I thought as much. That man's got no magical core. He's a muggle."

"A muggle is helping the person behind this?"Hermione asked incredulously.

"He might not know who he's helping. That story about a research project at Cambridge might be what he actually believes."

"But it doesn't sound like something a pureblood would think up,"Hermione pointed out.

"No,"Harry conceded. "It doesn't."

"So what's the point of all these tests?"Nymphadora asked.

"A blood sample would be enough to find out if the person had any magic in them,"Harry explained. "But to what end..?"

* * *

It was not long after that Harry and Hermione were in Bart James' office. The Auror looked at them with an air of mild bemusement. "You say a muggle is trying to find muggleborn children?"

"We don't think he's the one behind it,"Harry clarified. "But yes."

Bart spread his hands. "To what end?"

"We don't know. But we don't think it's purebloods."

"I spoke to their leader,"Hermione explained. "He said things that only someone familiar with the muggle world would say."

"And his cover story at the clinic,"Harry added. "That's not something a pureblood would come up with."

Bart shook his head. "So he's heard of Cambridge and Winston Churchill. Doesn't mean anything."

Hermione had a sudden uneasy feeling. "I never mentioned Winston Churchill."

Bart stared hard at her. "Oh." He flicked his wand and suddenly a shield sprung up between them. "I always thought I might need to make a quick exit. A shame, being an Auror has been useful."

"You're the leader of the True Way?"Hermione asked. Things began to click into place in her mind. "What you said at the Great Hall. Too black, too strong. That was Malcolm X, wasn't it? He was preaching against integration, about black supremacy. You know how things ended for him? He realised he was wrong, that you can't judge people by blood. But by then he'd got in too deep. His old associates murdered him."

"He lost faith. I won't make that mistake."

Harry was beginning to catch up. "You're preaching _muggleborn_ supremacy?"

"Why not? The purebloods think they're the master race, that the rest of us are intruders in their world. In fact, they're inbred fools. They wouldn't last five minutes without their magic, probably starve themselves. We're the strong ones. We're as good at magic as them _and_ we know how to survive without it. Yet we're expected to beg to be allowed into their institutions. To become part of their society." He looked at Hermione. "I heard all about you. Hermione Grainger, the muggleborn hero. But dig deeper and what do I find? You married into two of the old aristocratic wizarding families and bore children for them. Your ex-husband is now Minister of Magic! A symbol of their rule!"

"Ron Weasley has done more to help muggleborns than you ever have,"Hermione retorted.

"That's the sort of propaganda I'd expect from a blood traitor."

Hermione shot Harry a bemused look. " _I'm_ the blood traitor now?"

Bart was still in full flow. "You know what else Malcolm X said? 'I have more respect for a man who tells me where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.' At least Voldemort was honest about trying to oppress us. These new liberal purebloods do it without even thinking. We're expected to play by their rules. Muggleborn children get taken away from their children, locked up in Hogwarts and brainwashed to be good little servants to wizarding society. Well, we're not going to let you do it any longer. We're not going to be your servants. We're going to do things our own way and we're going to turn your wizarding world upside down." He waved his wand and apparated.

Harry looked at Hermione. "I think we've got a problem."

* * *

"Bartholomew James?"Ron asked when Harry met him in his office later.

Harry nodded. "A muggleborn, wanting to set up a new wizarding state and get rid of the purebloods."

"Just when I thought nothing else could surprise me. Well, it explains a lot."

"Like what?"

"Like why we didn't find out about the attack on Hogwarts soon enough. James had the whole Ministry evacuated. He said it was an emergency drill. Then he disappeared and we weren't allowed back in."

"If James is behind all this, then the whole Auror department could be compromised,"Harry noted. "Maybe the whole Ministry."

Ron sighed. "Harry, I'm not liking where this is going."

"We're going to have to use the Order, Ron. We're the only ones that can be trusted."

Ron nodded. "Okay, Harry. Let's deal with this off the record."


	13. Chapter 13: Plans for the Future

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* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Plans for the Future

Neville looked around the Great Hall of Hogwarts. It was now full of students, the four houses occupying their own tables. They were shell-shocked, aware that the castle had been attacked, that damage had been done, that they had been threatened. And aware that important discoveries had been made. They were looking to him for reassurance. He wondered how Dumbledore had ever managed it.

"There was once a boy at this school,"he told them. "I knew him. I taught him. He was in my house." As he'd expected, all eyes flicked towards the Gryffindor table. He considered rushing on to get past the moment but he needed to wait for their attention to be focused on him again. He let it play out. "His name was Bartholomew James. He was a muggleborn." He again let the students get their reactions out of the way. "He grew up in the muggle world and came into the wizarding world. And he didn't like it. I suppose it was too different to him. We're not perfect, us wizards and witches. We like to pity muggles because they can't do the things we do, but the truth is that, because they don't have the advantages we have, they've learned to do things differently. Sometimes better." He waited for another mumbling of discontent to subside. "Bartholomew James recognised that. And he thought that being a muggleborn, knowing the muggle way of doing things and the wizard way of doing things, meant that _he_ was the one that was better. That's why he came here a few days ago. To teach people his way of doing things, whether they want to or not. That makes him a criminal and it means he has to be stopped. No-one knew how he would turn out when he was at Hogwarts. You might find yourself looking at other Gryffindors, other muggleborns, and wondering if they're going to grow up to be the next Bartholomew James. Don't fall into that trap. The only way we stop people turning out like him is if we all work together."

* * *

It wasn't until after the meal was concluded that Nymphadora and Beverley managed to catch up with Bradley and Gemini. All of them were subdued. Neville's words had seemed like a grim warning. "What do you make of all that?"Bradley asked.

"We've got to do something,"Nymphadora decided firmly.

"But what?"Beverley asked.

"Yeah, Auntie Dora,"Gemini interjected. "You and Beverley already helped Uncle Harry figure out what James is doing."

"Him having the same surname as your brother's first name is really confusing,"Bradley sighed.

"What, have you never met two people with the same name before?"Nymphadora countered.

It was at that point that Maxwell Jordan came hurrying up. "Dora!"

Nymphadora looked at him in surprise and more than a little suspicion. "What do you want?"

Maxwell held up his hands. "Hey, purebloods and Gryffindors are not the enemy, right?"

Nymphadora softened slightly. "Sorry, Max."

"That's okay." He took a deep breath. "I want to help."

"With what?"

"I don't know. But you're a Potter, there's bound to be something. My grandparents taught me that."

"We're going to do something,"Bradley confirmed. "We're just not sure what."

"We could ask Flavia to help too,"Gemini suggested. "With whatever it is."

"First, we go to the library,"Nymphadora decided.

"Why there?"Beverley asked, confused.

"My mum always said, if you're looking for an answer, start with the library."

* * *

Harry had now summoned the entire Order, rather than just the few who had helped him previous. He, Ron and Hermione stood at the head of the gathering. Their contemporaries were there, of course: Neville, Luna, Seamus, Hannah, Ernie, Oliver, Katie, Parvati, Padma, Percy, George, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Cho Chang and Michael Corner. And the newer members from the next generation down: James, Albus, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Scorpius, Martin, Emily, Angela, Susannah, Helena, Timothy, Albus' old friend Owen Spink, and Marie and Melissa, attending their first meeting.

"The Minister and I are in agreement on this,"Harry told them, with a nod in Ron's direction. "This business with the True Way needs our help."

"I wasn't counting on us being active again,"Martin noted.

"None of us were,"Harry agreed. "But we can't just sit by and do nothing. If anyone wants to leave…"

"We're all behind you, Harry,"Seamus interjected. "But what can we do?"

"I can provide all the evidence that the Auror Department collected,"Ron told him. "But given that James was running the investigation himself…"

"…he probably already knew it all,"Luna finished. It wasn't actually what Ron had been planning to say, but he let it pass.

"I guess we just need to keep our eyes open,"Ernie suggested. "Report anything suspicious."

"But is James likely to be anywhere where we'd look?"Hermione asked.

"What do you mean?"Cho wondered.

"Well, if he hates the wizarding world as much as he claims…"

"Hermione's right,"Harry agreed. "It's no use us treating this like a normal Dark Wizard. We need to think like muggles…"


	14. Chapter 14: Muggle Raid

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* * *

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Muggle Raid

Some miles away were a group who thought like muggles…because they were muggles. It was an army camp. Its commanding officer, Colonel Winston Summerfield of the Royal Wiltshire Regiment, was supervising a group of soldiers who were looking over a new delivery of armoured vehicles. "I want them in the depot as soon as possible,"he snapped. "Get the mechanics to look over them. Don't want any more shoddy equipment."

He might have been concerned if he'd been aware of a group of figures watching from a nearby hillside. But he probably wouldn't have been. He had no way of knowing the threat they posed. Bartholomew James turned to his friend Nathaniel Thornhill. "Form up a unit to attack the main gate. I'll organise our flyers."

Thornhill nodded. "Do we use the masks?"

"No point,"Bartholomew replied. "They won't know anything about it."

"Okay."

"And remember, Nathan. Don't kill anyone. They're not our enemy, they know nothing about our world."

"Understood, Bart. Good luck."

Thornhill picked five wizards and together they made their way down the hill. The gate guards saw the figures approaching. One of them cocked his rifles and aimed it at the intruders. "Who goes there?"he called in the traditional challenge.

" _Bombarda Maxima_!" was Thornhill's answer. The gates exploded. The two guards there were thrown aside.

Summerfield swung round at the sound. "What the..? Was that an explosion?" He glanced round at the soldiers. "You, Barnes! Get Major Howard! The rest of you, form up with me." He led the soldiers to the gate and was astonished to see six figures entering the base, walking calmly and slowly towards them. "Halt or we fire!"

" _Stupefy_!" Summerfield watched bewildered as one of the men in his group was knocked off his feet and lay unconscious.

"Fire!" The soldiers opened fire. The wizards responded by casting Shield Charms. The bullets bounced off.

While the soldiers were distracted, Bartholomew was landing near the armoured vehicles with a group of his followers, all of them on broomsticks. He looked over the vehicles. "Take a couple of these. See if you can find any tanks."

Another of his lieutenants, Ramsay Thomas, was opening up boxes. "Bart? Looks like some sort of rocket launcher here."

"Good. Take that along too." Bartholomew noticed a soldier approaching and cast a quick Stunning Spell in his direction. "Let's move out before we're seen."

Summerfield thought nothing else could surprise him. But that was until the six men in front of him suddenly disappeared. And that wasn't even the end of it. "Look!"shouted the sergeant with him.

All of them gaped in astonishment at the sight of their vehicles floating above them, levitated by a group of cloaked figures on broomsticks, and disappearing from view.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were in their quarters at Hogwarts. They had decided to take breakfast there rather than at the Great Hall, since it gave them a chance to look over the newspapers. Harry had had the Daily Prophet owled in and Hermione had used Emily's courier service to get a selection of muggle papers delivered.

"Nothing in here that we don't know,"Harry declared at last. "Reports on the attacks on Hogwarts, warnings to keep on the lookout for James. The Ministry have issued the names of several known associates of his that have gone missing and are considered persons of interest…that's useful, I suppose. Good job Rita Skeeter's retired, she'd probably be blaming it on us."

"Believe it or not,"Hermione cut in,"there's something in The Sun."

"That'd be a first."

"Well, I doubt if they know what it is they've stumbled across but look at the front page." She held it up and showed him the headline: SOLDIERS CULTED.

"Okay, so they're making up words again,"Harry commented. "What does it say?"

Hermione looked down at the article. "'The Ministry of Defence has been left in a state of shock after a brutal raid on an army base which saw terrorists escape with thousands of pounds' worth of army equipment and weapons. Witnesses say the attackers were wearing cloaks and had weapons that could knock men out and deflect bullets.'"

Harry snatched the paper from her and scanned it. "We need to tell Ron,"he decided. "And we need to get down there."

* * *

If the raid had taken place on an establishment in the wizarding world, Harry could probably have got in by dropping his name a few times. Instead, Hermione had had to perform a few Memory Charms that had convinced Summerfield that they, along with James and Emily, were from the Ministry of Defence.

"I've been in the army twenty years,"Summerfield noted. "Saw action in the Middle East when I was a subaltern. Never seen anything like this."

"You've no idea who they were?"Harry asked.

"Not a clue. Could be terrorists, could be communists, could even be from Brussels for all I know. Didn't identify themselves."

"What did they take?"asked James.

Summerfield gestured to a soldier nearby. "Sergeant Phillips! Get these people a full list of missing equipment."

"If you could give us a vague idea,"Emily prompted.

"Tanks, personnel carriers, rocket launchers…"

"Enough to equip an army,"Hermione realised.

"Yeah. Why they'd want to do that given what they can already do…"

Their conversation was interrupted by a shout from the main gate. "Halt! Who goes there?"

Harry looked round and saw Ron, Rose and Scorpius being held at rifle point by a group of soldiers. "They're with us!"he called.

"Let them through, Sergeant Major!"Summerfield called.

"A moment, Colonel, I just need to confer with our colleagues." Harry led his party over to the newcomers.

"So, those are guns, are they?"Ron asked quietly.

Rose sighed. "Dad, can you not say anything that conspicuous?"

"They think we're from a different sort of Ministry,"Harry explained.

"Was Bart here?"Scorpius asked.

"Looks like it,"Harry confirmed. "And he's taken a lot of muggle weapons."

Ron laughed slightly. "Well, no offence, Harry, but if that's the best plan he can come up with, I don't think we're in any danger. Look what he did to this lot with magic."

"Think about it, Ron,"Hermione urged. "He's got muggle weapons and he's got magic."

"We're not just talking guns, we're talking military vehicles,"Harry continued. "Remember what your dad did to a simple Fort Anglia? Imagine someone doing that to a vehicle designed for war."

Ron's expression became serious. "In that case, we need to be ready, don't we?"


	15. Chapter 15: Preparing for Battle

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Preparing for Battle

Ron stood facing a large crowd of Ministry employees. Parvati was at his side and he picked out Rose and Scorpius among the crowd, taking comfort from their supportive expressions. "So, you've all heard the reports. Bartholomew James has made an attack on the muggle world."

One of the Ministry employees put his hand up: Apollo Zabini, Scorpius' cousin. "Do we need to worry about the International Statute of Secrecy?"

It was Parvati who stepped forward to answer the question. "Our agents in the muggle agencies are putting together a cover story right now. We're confident that the muggles who saw them have no idea magic was used."

Ron took the floor again. "The True Way stole weapons from a muggle army. We think they intend to use magic to enhance them, use them as weapons against us."

"What do you mean by us?"interjected an elderly wizard who had held office since Millicent Bagnold's time.

"We mean the Ministry,"Parvati replied.

"We're the head of the wizarding world,"Ron pointed out. "If James and the True Way aim to seize power, this is where they're going to seize it."

The elderly wizard seemed rather nervous about this. "Should we perhaps be evacuating?"

"Anyone who wishes to remain at home until the crisis was over have leave to do so." Ron noticed a few members of the crowd starting to edge towards the exit but was relieved that most continued to focus their attention on him. "For those of you who wish to stay and keep the Ministry running, thanks. We're stationing extra Aurors here in the event of an attack."

"But James was an Auror!"protested Terry Boot. "Are we sure we can trust them?"

"We've vetted them as thoroughly as we can,"Ron answered. "The alternative is sending them all home and being completely defenceless. And we can call on reinforcements from other trusted sources."

"Harry Potter?"asked Imelda Creevey hopefully.

Ron rolled his eyes slightly. Imelda was the same age as Lily and Hugo, a generation that still saw Harry as a legend. The reputation was not undeserved but still grated at times. "Harry Potter is occupied at Hogwarts, but rest assured he has personally vouched for everyone involved." He nodded to Rose and Scorpius, who began handing out parchments. "Mr and Mrs Malfoy are currently giving you lists of emergency shelters, separated by floors and departments. If the alarm goes, head for them. Unless you want to help with the fight, in which case, you'll be welcome."

* * *

At that moment, at Hogwarts, Neville was giving a similar speech to the school staff. "The True Way have already come here once. So they're probably going to do it again."

Professor Marianne Lemuir, the Potions Mistress and Head of Slytherin, spoke up. "Are we going to arrange ways to evacuate the students if they do attack?"

"That could be the worst thing we could do,"Harry pointed out. "Bart _wants_ the students. That could be giving them to him on a plate. At least if they're in here we could protect them."

"I don't think Bart would hurt them,"Hermione agreed.

Lemuir didn't seem entirely convinced. "I hope you're right."

"Come on, everyone,"Neville interjected. "This school held out against Voldemort! Are we going to run away from a bunch of thugs with chips on their shoulders?"

Lemuir conceded the point. "So what _are_ we going to do?"

"The shield can hold out for a while if we can get it up on time,"Ernie pointed out.

"And we learnt a few tricks for getting people in and out without the enemy seeing them during Voldemort's attack,"added Harry.

"It would help if we had some sort of lookout who could warn us of forces arriving outside the school grounds,"Ernie commented.

"We could ask the residents of Hogsmeade,"James suggested. "Get a floo system open to get messages from them."

"We could ask the centaurs to help,"put in Hagrid. He had long since retired from the Hogwarts staff but still kept his cabin on the school grounds, officially as an advisor to his replacement, so had been invited along.

Professor Samuel Ramos, the Astronomy Professor and Head of Ravenclaw, looked at him keenly. "Do you think they would agree?"

"They got no part in this quarrel. I do them some favours, they do us some favours."

"Look into it, Hagrid,"Neville agreed.

"I could start training a flying group,"Angela offered, earning a glare from her husband.

"Every little helps,"Neville decided. "If there's nothing else, I suggest we organise a shelter drill for the students."

"Looks like we're as ready as we can be,"Harry remarked to Hermione. She nodded, but didn't seem entirely relaxed. Harry understood. War was coming.

* * *

Nymphadora led her friends – Gemini, Bradley, Beverley and Maxwell – through the corridors of Hogwarts, an air of purpose about her. "Shouldn't we ask your parents?"Bradley asked.

"They'd only say no,"Nymphadora retorted.

"That's not very reassuring."

"What about Professor Longbottom?"Beverley asked.

"He'd probably tell us no as well,"Nymphadora admitted.

"And Uncle James won't?"Gemini responded.

"He's been our age more recently. He might understand." And with that, Nymphadora pushed open the door to the Muggle Studies classroom.

James was marking papers when he saw his sister and a gaggle of other first years enter. He looked at them curiously. "Dora, Gemini, what is all this?"

"We want to help,"Nymphadora stated dogmatically.

"With what?"

"With the True Way."

James sighed and put down his quill. "Do you mind if I ask why you've come to me?"

There was a lengthy silence. "We thought you'd agree,"Beverley said at last. Nymphadora shot her an annoyed look and she shrugged.

"As a teacher, and as your godfather, Nymphadora Ginevra, I should be telling you to stay out of this and leave it to the grown-ups. But I know that if I do that, you'll carry on anyway without proper supervision. You do know I was in my fourth year before I started getting mixed up in stuff like this? And I kept Lily and Hugo out of it?" He was met with a series of embarrassed looks. "Okay. Madame Macmillan is going to be putting on extra flying lessons with an emphasis on casting magic while flying. I'm going to request that you be involved as well. At least if you do go blundering into things you might be able to take care of yourselves."

Nymphadora smiled. "Thanks, James."

Maxwell was the first to head for the door. "Okay! Let's tell Flavia."


	16. Chapter 16: The Two-Pronged Attack

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Two-Pronged Attack

Padma Patil checked her parchment as she entered the Ministry atrium. She saw Terry Boot also arriving for work and nodded to him politely. "You didn't fancy staying off work then?"

Terry shook his head. "You don't really think this True Way will attack here, do you? It's been days. If they were going to do something, they'd have done it by now."

"Unless maybe they're busy working on how they're going to attack?"

"And what are the chances of that?"

It was unfortunate timing, for at that moment, in bursts of green flame, a group of robed figures appeared down the floo network. Bart, at their head, smiled. "I'm not sure if we've met. My name is Bartholomew James."

Terry's eyes widened in shock. "Aurors!"he shouted.

The True Way members launched a battery of spells at the Ministry employees in the atrium, who could only manage defensive moves as they were slowly forced back. Bartholomew turned towards the wall behind him and aimed his wand at it. " _Bombarda Maxima_!"

The wall was blown open, to reveal a metallic shape. It forced its way through the opening, hovering above the Ministry officials, before sending bursts of blue light out of its side. The _Expulso_ energy razed the ground, causing explosions.

"What is that?"Terry wondered.

Padma swallowed slightly. "I think it's what the muggles call a helicopter. Although in this case, I think the precise term is gunship."

* * *

The staff and students of Hogwarts were assembled in the Great Hall when Hagrid came lurching in. "Message from the centaurs, Professor! A bunch of those True Way fellers just started apparating into the Forbidden Forest!"

Neville stood up. "All right, everyone. Shelter drill commences now."

"What if we want to help defend the school?"asked Marco DeFreitas.

Neville considered this, thinking of a similar question asked by the classmate who was now his deputy head. "Any sixth and seventh years who want to volunteer come to the front of the hall." A sizeable number from all four houses stepped forward. Neville skimmed his eyes over them. "Fifth year prefects!" The eight students indicated stood up. "You're now in charge of the evacuation. Get everyone to the shelters."

"What about the shield?"Ernie asked.

"We get it up now,"Neville replied. He raised his wand, with most of the other teachers doing likewise, and fired a blast into the air.

* * *

Harry, Hermione and James made their way up onto the castle battlements. James pointed down. The shimmering bubble of the Shield Charm surrounded the castle, but outside it they could see the tanks that the True Way had appropriated. They began firing bursts of Blasting Curse into the shield, as if shells had been infused with it. "Don't suppose there's any chance they'll run out of ammunition,"Hermione sighed.

Harry gave her a weary smile. "You'd better get down to the Room of Requirement. You'll be needed there." Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek and hurried away. Harry turned to James. "Nervous?"

James smiled awkwardly. "I think I'm moving beyond nervous into scared."

"Ready to carry on though?"

"Oh yeah."

* * *

At Grimmauld Place, Albus and Lily observed from an upper window the two patronuses in the street outside: One a stag, the other a terrier. "Two alerts,"Albus noted. "One from Hogwarts, one from the Ministry."

"Want to draw lots for it?"Lily asked.

Albus shook his head. "I'll take half the Order to Hogsmeade, you take the other half to the Ministry."

"Agreed." Lily paused before giving him a sorrowful look. "I wish we were doing this together."

"Me too." Albus drew his sister into a tight hug. "We'll see each other once this is over."

"Count on it. Let's go."

* * *

Hermione was standing by the door to the Room of Requirement. She had asked it to produce a room with a tunnel to Hogsmeade, as it had done the last time the castle was under serious attack. She watched the tunnel with an intense feeling of nervousness, which dissipated once Albus began leading Order members out. She exchanged brief smiles with him and Luna and some of the other newcomers. Emily was the last one through; she had been watching the other entrance in Hogsmeade. "Is that everyone?" Hermione asked her.

Emily nodded. "Owen and Melissa are manning the HQ, everyone else has gone to the Ministry."

"The True Way are there too?" The news didn't really surprise Hermione. "Okay, we'd better close this tunnel off, then go see what trouble our husbands have got into."

* * *

Rose and Scorpius were on an upper level of the Ministry atrium. They fired spells down at the gunship, which was smashing everything in its past and striking down Aurors with blasts of magical energy. Most of them seemed to be Full Body-Bind Curses but they were still enough to put most of the Ministry's defenders out of action. "How are we going to stop that?"Rose asked.

"Hopefully your dad's got an idea,"Scorpius answered.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he's out there now."

Rose looked down and sure enough, there was Ron, striding across the atrium as though going to chastise a particularly troublesome member of the Wizengamot. He stared hard at Bart, who was standing beneath his gunship. "As the duly elected head of the Ministry of Magic, let me make it clear that this uprising is completely illegal."

Bart gave a small laugh. "You've finally lost it, Weasley. How do you think you're going to stop us?"

"Like this." Ron raised his wand so it pointed upwards. " _Lumos_."

At first, the light seemed a futile gesture. But then something responded to the signal. A dragon burst out of one of the corridors, a man riding on its back. It unleashed a ball of flame at the gunship, incinerating it. Around the dragon flew riders on brooms: Lily, Cho, Michael and Imelda. All began firing spells at the shocked True Way members. Ron smiled at the dragon handler. "Thanks, Charlie."

Bart had backed away at the onslaught. He turned to Ramsay Thomas. "Stay here. Keep as many of them tied up as possible. I'm going to Hogwarts. If we can get control of that, the future of the wizarding world is ours."


	17. Chapter 17: The True Army

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* * *

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The True Army

Bart apparated next to the tank unit, led by his other lieutenant, Nathaniel Thornhill. "Resistance at the Ministry is too strong. How close are you to breaking through here?"

Thornhill placed his hand against the barrier. It shimmered and he was almost able to push through. "Close."

Bart examined the castle. "There's defenders on the battlements. We'll need to take them out quickly to stop the Ministry having the high ground. Have you got aerial units?"

"No helicopters but some of us can ride brooms."

"That'll have to do then." Bart pushed hard on the shield, which had been hit by more _Expulso_ shells while they talked. It collapsed.

* * *

Harry, Hermione, James and Emily watched from the battlements. "They're in,"Harry noted rather redundantly.

"But we can still slow them down from up here,"Hermione noted.

"Take the tanks first,"Harry told her.

Hermione nodded and aimed her wand downwards. " _Confringo_!"she shouted. The Curse struck one of the advancing tanks but it was surrounded by a Shield Charm and the flames dispersed.

"Dad, look,"James noted. He pointed to where a group of True Way wizards were mounting brooms.

"You know what to do then,"Harry replied.

James winced. "Okay, I know I was on the Quidditch team but I _was_ only the Beater."

"Don't be so modest,"Emily reassured him. "All of us Chasers were afraid of you."

James looked pleased at the news. "Really?"

"Really."

"Anyway, you're going to have help,"Harry added. He nodded behind them.

Angela was leading a group of flyers to engage the enemy riders. With her were Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan and all four present Quidditch captains.

Albus ran up onto the battlements and handed James and Emily brooms. "So, are we doing this or what?" They mounted up and flew off to join the aerial battle.

* * *

Professor Ramos was leading a group of Ravenclaw students in manning a barricade in one of the corridors. A group of True Way wizards had managed to get inside through a secret passage they remembered from their days at the school and were advancing towards them. "Ready with the Stunning Spells?"Ramos asked.

"Ready, Professor,"Davina answered.

"Now!"

A chorus of " _Stupefy_ "s indicated that most of the wizards had gone down but one of them managed to loose off a Blasting Curse. Not only did it blow a huge chunk of their barricade away, but the debris also hit Ramos, knocking him out cold.

"Professor! Professor!"Davina shouted urgently as the attacker and a number of his fellows advanced on them.

" _Stupefy_!" A pair of Stunning Spells shot over the heads of the students and hit the True Way members. George and Lisa ran forward to join the Ravenclaws. George squeezed his stepdaughter's hand. "Keep calm, okay?"he noted. She smiled gratefully and he turned to the rest of the students. "Let's keep an eye out for any others."

* * *

Most of the first years, and most of the students older than them, had willingly made their way to the shelters. But the prefects in charge of the evacuation had been working on the assumption that all the students would go along without objection. They hadn't anticipated any of them sneaking away.

Nymphadora led Bradley, Gemini, Beverley, Maxwell and Flavia to the Quiddith supplies shed. "Everyone know how to use one of these?"she asked, handing out brooms.

"We all had the extra lessons,"Bradley pointed out.

"That's a yes then."

"But what do we do when we get up there?"asked Beverley.

"If nothing else, _Expelliarmus_ should work. It's pretty simple." Nymphadora mounted her broom. "Ready? Off we go." She took off into the air, Bradley, Gemini and Flavia just behind her. Beverley and Maxwell followed a bit more uncertainly.

The True Way wizards were soon in sight. The children unleashed a set of Disarming Spells, some of which hit the target but many of which only succeeded in drawing their attention. The True Way flyers were led by a woman named Neive Beyer and she instantly responded to the threat. "Get rid of them,"she snapped at two of her men.

Angela had noticed the new arrivals. "James, can you get your sister and her friends out of trouble?"

James glanced in the direction she'd indicated and sighed. "Albus, with me." The two Potters charged to the rescue, hitting the attackers with Impediment Jinxes that sent them tumbling away.

"You okay?"Albus asked. He received a number of nervous nods from the first years.

"Stay between us,"James told them, with he and Albus taking up position on either side of the children. "And don't try anything too ambitious."

* * *

Despite the damage to their Shield Charms from the curses fired from the battlements, the tanks had made it to the main entrance of Hogwarts. Bart and Thornhill were walking alongside them. "Fire!"Bart ordered and a massive Blasting Curse blew a chunk out of the wall. The tank advanced, demolishing the rest of the wall.

Neville and Luna were standing in the entrance hall. "You do know visitors are meant to sign in when they come to the school?"Neville asked the advancing army.

Bart looked at them dismissively. "Run them down."

The tanks advanced, several wizards alongside them. None of them thought anything of the cable they were walking across, not even when Neville nodded a signal to Timothy and Helena, standing concealed at either side of the hall, and they threw the switches.

Normally, electrical equipment didn't work at Hogwarts. But when someone suggested using a muggle tool to fight a muggle weapon, the Order had managed to create a null field so that magic wouldn't interfere with the specially installed electrical generators. Electricity surged through the advance enemy and the tanks, electrifying them. Bart and Thornhill took one look at it and fled.

Neville gave the signal for the power to be turned off and the tank crews and their support troops slumped unconscious. "So that's electricity,"he noted.

"It's very pretty,"Luna remarked.

* * *

Bart and Thornhill ran outside and gestured to the True Way members still advancing. "Withdraw!"Bart shouted. "We'll regroup back in Hogsmeade!" He gestured for the flyers to withdraw as well.

Harry and Hermione came running down from the battlements in time to see the retreat. "They're leaving,"Hermione noted with relief.

Harry was less willing to relax. "If we let them go now, they'll come back and carry on. We need to stop this once and for all." He grabbed a couple of fallen brooms, handing one to her. "Come on, let's get after them."


	18. Chapter 18: The End of the Line

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: The End of the Line

Even with the departure of Bart James, the battle in the Ministry had raged on, with a combination of Ministry employees, Aurors and Order of the Phoenix members battling against the remaining True Way adherents. The dragon continued to circle above them but with the True Way having kept their heavy vehicles out of the way, it made no attempt to engage.

Martin and Susannah had one grouped pinned down to the left of the atrium, while Seamus and Hannah were battling another to the right. Hugo and Marie had joined Rose and Scorpius on the upper level and they, together with the defenders on brooms, were managing to stun the remaining attackers from above.

Ron was duelling Ramsay in the middle of the battle, everyone else willing to stand back and give them room. "Another pureblood oppressing us,"Ramsay snarled.

"Mate, you got it all wrong,"Ron retorted. "I'm not interested in oppressing anyone."

"Then why'd you become Minister?"Ramsay replied, as he loosed a Stabbing Curse at him.

"I dunno,"Ron replied as he deflected it and followed it up with a Stunning Spell that Ramsay similarly deflected. "So I could help people, I guess."

"You really expect us to believe that?"

"Not really." Ron conjured up a mirror behind Ramsay and bounced a Stunning Spell off it, hitting him in the back before he realised what was happening. Ron looked round. Most of the True Way members were unconscious, those that weren't were being rounded up by Aurors. He picked out Parvati. "Anyone hurt?"

"Terry's a bit shaken up, he took a few Stinging Jinxes. Apollo got stunned before he could even lift a wand but he's recovering. Imelda got knocked from her broom when she was stunned, Cho's taking her to the infirmary. Other than that, just minor bumps."

Ron nodded with approval and patted her on the arm, then looked round for his niece. "Lily!"

Lily came rushing forward. "Yes, Minister?"

"What's going on? Where are the rest of the Order?"

"They had to go to Hogwarts. There's an attack there too."

Ron took a moment to digest this. "Grab any Aurors that are free, tell them you're acting under my orders. Then you, Martin and Susannah head down there."

"Right away, Minister!"

* * *

In fact, a similar scene was playing out at Hogwarts at that moment. The True Way members left behind in the attack were being safely secured. Neville, Luna and Ernie had gone to check on the students in the shelters and let them know the danger had passed. James was leading an odd collection of Hogwarts staff, Order members and students in checking over the grounds. He looked around with an increasingly puzzled expression on his face. "Anyone know where Dad and Hermione went?"

Timothy nodded. "I saw them flying off just after James' people withdrew. I think they'd gone to check on them."

"What?"James asked, both astonished and horrified. "And you didn't say anything?"

"I thought they could take care of themselves."

"You thought that? Have you _met_ them?"

"They're bound to be in trouble,"Albus realised. "We need to get after them!" He leapt on his broom and headed off in the direction of Hogsmeade.

"I'm coming too,"Nymphadora added, getting on her broom and following at a more sedate pace.

"Nymphadora, wait!"James shouted after her to no effect. He saw several others of those present, including Emily, Bradley and Oliver, surging forward. He held his hands out, generating a brief shield that stopped them moving forward at least long enough to get their attention. "Nobody move!"he snapped. "We won't help them by heading into trouble."

"But they could be in trouble now!"Emily argued. "You said so yourself!"

"And now Nymphadora's out there and you just let her go,"Bradley argued.

"If we go flying out there one at a time, we could be walking into an ambush. We'll go after them but we'll do it together. Let's get this organised."

* * *

Bartholomew James was leading his remaining followers towards the edge of the Hogwarts grounds: Nathaniel Thornhill, Neive Beyer and four others. "We'll apparate out of here,"he was telling them. "Get to the safe house, start collecting new followers together. Maybe we'll need to be more subtle…"

He was interrupted by a series of explosions ripping the ground around them. Two of his group were knocked out by flying debris. Harry and Hermione dived down, jumping off their brooms so they ended up in the middle of the group, back to back, covering them with their wands.

"Time to give it up, James,"Harry told them. "Reinforcements will be here soon."

Bartholomew looked at them dismissively. "Kill them."

Harry and Hermione loosed off a Stunning Spell, downing one opponent each. That left the odds at two to one. Harry aimed a Stabbing Curse at Bart, who deflected it and aimed a Freezing Spell at Harry's feet. Harry slipped, glancing round. He saw Beyer about to fire a curse at Hermione, who was duelling the fourth remaining True Way member, Alfred McDonald. Harry hit Beyer with a Stunning Spell and she went down. Hermione cast an Incarcerous Spell at McDonald, pinioning him, but Thornhill now had a clear line of sight at Harry and aimed his wand…

" _Stupefy_!" Albus had arrived on the scene and swooped down on his broom, stunning Thornhill before he could utter an incantation. Harry smiled up at him and Albus smiled back.

Bart wasn't smiling. Instead, he had a face like thunder. He aimed his wand at the younger Potter heading towards him. " _Avada Kedavra_!"

The green light struck Albus squarely in the chest, the smile frozen in place on his face. He toppled off his broom, fell like a stone and hit the ground with a thump.


	19. Chapter 19: The Reckoning

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CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Reckoning

Bartholomew James was running.

Just hours, just minutes, earlier, he had dreamed of being the ruler of the Wizarding World. Now his only dream was staying alive.

He had left the grounds of Hogwarts long ago but apparating was not an option. Harry was just behind him; if he stopped to cast the spell he would have no chance. As it was, Harry was constantly flinging curses at him, which rebounded off the buildings. The residents of Hogsmeade had retreated inside their homes, knowing that whatever was going on they were best off out of it. He would receive no aid there. So Bart ran on.

* * *

Hermione was kneeling on the ground, cradling her stepson's body, tears rolling down her cheeks. She had tried to stop Harry leaving, scared of what would happen to him, of what he might do. She knew there was still a lot of anger in him, more still now, over all the death and suffering he'd seen in his life. She could have gone after him but she hadn't wanted to leave Albus alone.

She heard the thump of a broom landing nearby but she couldn't even muster the energy to look up and see who it was. Not until she heard a small voice ask, in shock, "Albus?"

Hermione jumped to her feet. "Dora, Dora, don't look!" She grabbed her daughter in a hug, burying the girl's face in her chest. The memory of her own first sight of death, that horrible moment when Harry had appeared in front of them with Cedric's body, sprang to mind. Fifteen years old and it had still traumatised her. Nymphadora was even younger, too young. She couldn't see her brother like that.

Then Nymphadora asked her the question she'd been dreading. "Where's Dad?"

* * *

Bart's luck had run out. He had headed down a long, blind street. Only the back walls of buildings surrounded it. There was no cover, nowhere to run. He turned round, wand in hand, but Harry was already ready. " _Impedimenta_!" The spell knocked Bart clean off his feet, landing him heavily on his back. The impact knocked the wind out of him. He lay there, looking fearfully up at Harry, too scared to run or fight. And Harry hated him. Hated him with an intensity he hadn't felt in years. All his life, he'd seen the people he'd loved murdered by those who just didn't care: His parents, Sirius, Ginny. And now Albus. He hadn't wanted to hurt someone so much in his life. So he would. He raised his wand. " _Cruci_ -"

"Dad?"

The voice made him pause. He turned round and saw his youngest daughter, teary-eyed. He realised how much she must have seen that day, how it must have affected her. The last thing she needed to see was her father do something that would haunt her nightmares forever after. He turned back to Bart, wand still raised. " _Petrificus Totalus_!"

Nymphadora ran into his arms and he held her there, but he took no comfort from it. In time, he would. But not yet. Not so soon. "We'll take him back to Hogwarts,"he said, not sure if he was talking to Nymphadora or himself. "Let the Aurors deal with him." He levitated Bart with a flick of his wand, letting him float after them as he and his daughter made their way up to the castle.

* * *

Ron walked through the wrecked Ministry atrium, Rose by his side, giving instructions as if it was just another day. "I want the Department of Law Enforcement to prepare a full case against the True Way as soon as possible,"he told her. "See that it's put to rest. And schedule a meeting with Neville. We need to discuss resentments by muggleborn students. And I'd better pay a visit to St Mungo's, check on the wounded."

"You do remember I'm not your assistant, Dad,"Rose pointed out.

"True. Find my assistant."

At that moment, Parvati approached. Her demeanour contrasted strongly with the relaxed discussion of a moment earlier. "Ron, Rose. We've got a report in from Hogwarts. All the True Way members have been apprehended."

"Great!"Ron enthused. "Make a statement to the Daily Prophet immediately."

"But there's been a fatality. On our side."

Ron froze and exchanged a look with Rose, a sudden feeling of dread settling on them both. "Who?"he asked.

* * *

James and Lily stood with Harry and Hermione in Harry's office at Hogwarts. It had mostly escaped the battle intact. Only a few chunks missing from the walls indicated that anything had happened. That and the mood of the four of them. "We have to go with Albus to St Mungo's,"Harry explained. "There are… arrangements to sort out."

"We'll be back as soon as possible,"Hermione added. "We don't want to leave you alone, any of you."

"We'll keep an eye on things here until you get back,"James replied. "Emily's telling the kids, I can look after Dora, and Gemini until Rose and Scorpius get here."

"They're okay where they are for the moment,"Harry answered. "But…thanks, son." He gave James a quick hug.

Hermione did the same with Lily. "Love you, Mum,"Lily said quietly.

"I love you too,"Hermione told her stepdaughter.

James waited until Harry and Hermione had left the office before turning to his sister. He had no idea what to say to her, just as he'd had no idea when their mother died. Albus had always been the one who held them together. Now…now he didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry,"he said quietly.

Lily had been leaning against the desk, her back to him, but now she turned to face him. "For what?"

"That…that it was him."

"Don't,"Lily chastised him firmly. "Don't make out that I'd rather it was you than him. You're my brother, James, and I love you. I'm just…I'm going to miss him so much."

James held her then, and they stayed like that a long time.

* * *

Nymphadora and Gemini sat on the bed in Harry and Hermione's room. Their eyes were raw from crying but they were cried out now. They just sat in silence.

There was a knock at the door and Bradley entered. "Professor Potter Senior sent me up,"he explained.

Nymphadora nodded mutely, not really having anything to say. Gemini looked at him curiously. "Have you heard anything from the Ministry?"

"Just that they've got a lot of clearing up to do. No-one seems to have been badly hurt." He swallowed hard, aware that he could make the situation worse. "I'm sorry about Albus."

Nymphadora looked at him and, to her surprise and his, managed a slight smile. "Thank you."

He sat down between them and slipped his arms around their shoulders. Neither of them objected. They sat there in companionship, looking out the window at the beauty around them.


	20. Chapter 20: The Mourning After

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CHAPTER TWENTY: The Mourning After

The legal side of things had been dealt with swiftly. Bartholomew James was serving a life sentence in Azkaban for his use of an Unforgivable Curse. It gave Harry pause to remember he came close to joining him. The rest of the True Way had been given lesser sentences of between ten and fifteen years for their part in the attacks. The Ministry had set up committees to discuss the integration of muggleborns into wizarding society. Perhaps if they could all truly learn to live together, then Albus' death would mean something.

The funeral was a quiet affair…or as quiet as they could manage anyway. No press, no fans, no public well-wishers. That just left everyone whose life Albus had touched personally. The graveyard was full of members of the Order, old Hogwarts classmates, teammates from the Barsey Buccaneers…and, of course, his family.

The burial took place in the Weasley family plot. A quick glance around reminded Harry of how many other people they had lost. Plenty of people had asked to speak and he'd allowed them to do so. They'd spoken of how he was a friend that could always be counted on, someone who always had a kind word and a comforting shoulder. All of it Harry knew to be true. He wasn't sure if he'd ever met someone who didn't like his son. Perhaps not even the True Way.

Finally, the gathering began to part. Those closest to Albus were the last to leave. Rose and Scorpius, James and Emily, Lily and Gordon…Hugo and Marie had come together and Harry had noticed they'd held hands throughout. He'd smiled in spite of himself. Even out of the most terrible tragedy, something good could come.

Ron and Parvati had come together as well. They were escorting Molly out of the graveyard. The old woman's voice was cracking as she passed where Harry and his family were standing. "How much more is this family going to lose?"she sobbed. "Pureblood supremacists kill three of our children, now it's muggleborn supremacists killing our grandson. It never ends."

Arthur stopped by Harry and Hermione and offered Harry his hand. "I know this is hard on you."

"On you too,"Harry pointed out.

Arthur nodded sadly, glancing towards his wife. "I sometimes think we've lived too long,"he sighed. "Look after yourself, Harry." He walked off after his family.

Harry wasn't sure what to do next. The question was answered for him when Melissa approached him. "Mr Potter?"

Harry hadn't even known she was still there. Hermione gently steered Nymphadora away. "We'll see you back at the castle,"she told Harry, kissing him on the cheek.

Harry turned his attention to Melissa. "How are you?"he asked politely.

Melissa seemed nervous. "I don't know if this is the right time but…I'm pregnant."

Harry felt a warmth that he hadn't felt since that green lightning had struck home. "Albus'?" She nodded. "Did he know?"

Melissa nodded again. "That's why he got me to stay behind at Grimmauld Place, got Owen to look after me."

Harry hugged her gently. "Congratulations, Melissa. And welcome to the family. Both of you. If you ever need anything, just ask."

* * *

Harry found Hermione and Nymphadora waiting in his quarters at Hogwarts. "What did Melissa have to say?"Hermione asked.

Harry had a sneaking suspicion she already knew. "I'm going to be a grandfather again."

Hermione smiled. "That's wonderful, Harry." She faltered slightly. "It is good news?"

Harry smiled back. "The best." His mood became sombre again as he turned to his daughter. "And how are you?"

"Sad,"she said simply.

Harry nodded and drew her into a hug. "Me too,"he agreed. "But we can't be sad forever. We have to remember him in happy ways. It wouldn't be fair to him otherwise, if thinking of him only made us sad."

"Is that true of this place too?"she asked. "Of Hogwarts? Sad things have happened here. People have died."

"That's true,"Harry agreed. "A lot of sad things did happen here. And a lot of happy things too. I met some of the most important people in the world to me here." His gazed shifted to Hermione, who smiled in acknowledgement. Then he turned back to Nymphadora. "And others, they wouldn't exist if not for this place, for the family I found here. You've made friends too, haven't you?"

Nymphadora nodded. "Yes. That's why I want to stay here."

"Good,"Harry replied. "Me too."

Hogwarts was home again and his family would continue to grow there, whatever fate might send their way.

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